


Prinxiety - Love all of you

by Herbstblatt



Series: Love hating you [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: AU, Also this is a dumbsterfire not even I know what is going on anymore, Angst, Fluff, For some reason I haven't marked the lemon stuff in this part idk, Human Sides (Sanders Sides), I don't know what to put into the tags, M/M, Prinxiety - Freeform, Side Story, Smut, Thanksgiving Dinner, Tw emotionally abusive mom, Visiting parents, demus - Freeform, everyone wants to slap dean, everyone will hate Ros mom, help me, its cute, its fluffy, partly, there will be angst, tw panic attack, ye mby I'll add some tags later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:15:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23724442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herbstblatt/pseuds/Herbstblatt
Summary: If glares could kill people, Virgil would have been worried. But he simply enjoyed this too much. The comedy gold, Roman’s annoyed expression even though he was red like a tomato from blushing, the sheer ridiculousness of this situation. Oh god, Virgil loved every second of this.Side story of Prinxiety - Love hating you (check out the main story first if you haven't read it yet!) which takes place sometime after the last chapter. Roman and Virgil decide to visit both their parents for thanksgiving together - we get to see a little of their backstory and childhood :) I wanted this to be a cute little one-shot but I wrote out the first few scenes and ended up with 4k words without even really getting to the juicy stuff, so it'll be a longer side story with several chapters :) There will be fluff and smut and angst, you have been warned :)***currently on hiatus***(Not really an open-end though)
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Series: Love hating you [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1697527
Comments: 47
Kudos: 138





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeaaaahhh, I finally had to give Roman a second name, and yes it's cliché but ofc it's Spanish. It's not mentioned in this chapter, but I decided to use the classic for Virgil as well and go with 'Storm'.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy ^^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nsfw Scene marked with ***  
> (Continues into chapter 2)

“Remind me again why we can’t just spend Thanksgiving with Logan and Patton”, Roman grumbled, being this close to just turning the car around and driving all the way back to Greenhill.  
Now they still had the chance to do so, it was not too late yet. He could always just rip the steering wheel around, drive back and they could just forget that they were supposed to be somewhere else. It was that easy.

“Because we basically got engaged and I haven’t even met your mother yet. I know you have problems with her, but it would be reeaaally awkward if I meet her for the first time at our wedding, Princey”  
“Virgil dear, I already told you, we aren’t properly engaged yet. And if that’s your only worry, we just shouldn’t invite her! I don’t want her present at our wedding anyway! Problem solved! We can skip House Ramirez and go straight to your parents’! I bet Josie would be delighted if we’d spend some extra time with her!”

“Roman” Virgil warned him playfully with a soft punch against his shoulder “We are going to visit your mother and you can’t do anything to change that. Besides, it’s only going to be a day anyway, how bad can it be?”  
“Oh, you don’t know my mother. She will do everything to make it hell.”

Virgil didn’t say anything, he just raised his eyebrow at him provocatively.  
“Alright, alright, I’ll shut up. But you have been warned”

\---

When Roman pulled up the driveway, Virgil started to regret that he had insisted on going here. 

This wasn’t a house. This was a fucking Mansion and even that seemed like an understatement to describe that monstrosity of extravaganza and overflowing wealth.

Virgil had known that Roman came from a very wealthy family.  
He had not known that he was engaged to the Queen of England. 

“Roman, when were you planning on telling me that you are royalty?”  
Virgil gaped at the building in front of them with an open mouth, but Roman just snickered.  
“I thought you knew? Why else would you call me Princey all the time?”, Roman feigned surprise, his voice dripping sarcasm.  
“Looks like I really need to update that pet name to -your majesty- now, shouldn’t I?”  
“Oh, my dark and starry night, if you wanted to get me into bed you should have just said so, no need to flirt with me so shamelessly”, Roman winked as he parked the car, getting out and opening the door for Virgil.

“But sadly no, Family Ramirez is not nobility”, Roman leaned against the car, just looking at the manor in front of them, seemingly hesitant to enter, “We are only…how would you say it? …Rich as fuck. One of the few pros of my Mom being CEO, only at the low cost of a handful of cons, like, for example, an absolutely shitty childhood.”  
“Well, I’d always prefer spending a shitty childhood in a palace over a regular shitty childhood”, Virgil smirked playfully, “Come on, your Majesty, no more standing around”  
Roman purred at the new pet name and hesitantly fell into step next to Virgil.

\---

“Roman!” The door was opened by an elderly Lady, her voice full of delight, her eyes shining as she looked at him, instantly pulling him into a warm hug. “It has been too long! You need to come home more often!”

This was not…what Virgil had expected. The way Roman had described his mother made her seem like evil incarnate, like she were a demon who nurtured herself by drinking the blood of innocent newborns while torturing children for fun.

This woman was definitely not that.  
She seemed more like sunshine manifested within a person, the embodiment of flowers, cookies and sunny days. The kind of person everyone wanted as a grandma, the kind of person that was loved by everyone.

The moment she let go of Roman the Lady grinned at Virgil, looking him up and down, smiling.  
“And you must be Virgil then! I have heard so much about you, I can’t wait to get to know you better!”  
The Lady quickly pulled Virgil into a tight hug, the boy not knowing how to react. He felt like he should hug back, but she had already stepped back before he could properly even process the thought.

Virgil coughed silently, trying to shake the awkwardness off.  
“It’s very nice to finally meet you! You must be Mrs Ram- “

The Lady suddenly burst out laughing. “Oh no, I am not. I am sorry for not introducing myself, you must excuse me, where are my manners?”  
Virgil felt his face flush red, burning from embarrassment, feeling all of his dignity wash down the gutter.

“Virgil, this is Nancy, she works here, but she is probably the closet thing I have to a mother anyway”, Roman smiled at him encouragingly, which just made Virgil blush even more.  
“Oh, don’t talk about Mrs Ramirez that way! She does her best after all”  
“Yes, yes, of course. I am just happy to see you, Nancy” Roman said as they both entered, the mansion even more impressing from the inside. 

“Speaking of the devil, where is mother?”  
“Sadly, she was called in for an emergency meeting, but Mrs Ramirez promised she would be back by the time dinner is served”  
Roman sighed, but he couldn’t say he was surprised. He was used to this after all.  
“And when is dinner?”  
“When Mrs Ramirez returns from work, naturally”  
“Yes, of course”, Roman sighed again, annoyance already clear on his expression.  
“Now, now, why don’t you two go to your room in the meantime? I have prepared some snacks for your brother, I can bring you two some as well”

Nancy smiled.  
Of course, she smiled, she didn’t know that she had just delivered the worst news imaginable after all.

“Remus is here?!?” Roman nearly choked on his own breath, noticing how Virgil tensed up next to him.  
They both knew what that meant.  
If Remus was here…so was his plus one.

“I thought he would stay at Starwood?”  
“That was the original plan, but Mrs Ramirez insisted that he came”  
“Oh god,…did he come here alone or- “

“It’s nice to see you again, Virgil. Roman.”  
Roman couldn’t even finish his sentence. He just froze instantly at the too-sweet voice bellowing through the room.  
Dean sauntered into the room, hand in hand with Remus, a smirk displayed on his face.  
He looked so calm and put together, as if he was walking towards old friends of his, instead of an encounter that would most likely end with Ragnarök.  
Dean smiled and waved at them, leaning a little bit more into Remus’ side, Romans twin purring at the display of affection.

Virgil literally jumped at Dean.  
Would have probably tried to rip his throat out with his teeth right there, right then, if it hadn’t been for Roman yanking him back and keeping him in place.

“Bro, you are late!” Remus smirked, “And Virgil, long time no see! Did you get taller?”  
Remus smiled, seemingly genuine and absolutely calm.

Virgil wasn’t sure whether Remus didn’t care about the fact that Virgil a) was this close to maiming his boyfriend, b) literally growled at the both of them and c) was the ex of his boyfriend, or d) if he simply feigned his happiness at seeing him.  
Anyway, he didn’t care.  
Virgil was already planning to stab Dean at the next given opportunity, willing to let the same fate meet Remus if he stood in his way.

Roman stepped in just in time, holding Virgil back with full force, knowing that this would end in a bloodbath as soon as he let go of his starry night. 

“Yes, we got held up, but since Mother isn’t here anyway, it doesn’t matter, does it?”, Roman faked his sweetest smile, his voice dripping from sweet poison, “And Dean, I see they fixed your nose quite well! I wonder if they would manage that another time? Would be quite the miracle, wouldn’t it?”

Dean smiled despite the obvious threat, opening his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted before he could even say a single word.

“Boys! Please behave! I don’t know what is going on here, but this is no place for fighting!” Nancy stepped in between them, scolding them with a disappointed expression.

“Yes, of course. I am sorry” Roman said, Remus repeating the apology as well. They were both aware that they would get into too much trouble if they made a scene here. Yet Roman was willing to punch in Dee’s face if a single wrong word slipped over his silver tongue. He might be holding Virgil back but Roman was the one Dean should be the most scared of if he came to threaten his love the slightest. 

But even Virgil calmed down a little at Nancy’s chastising tone, the Lady making him feel bad for having started a fight for a moment - before he met Dean’s eye again and felt the unbearable need to scratch the snake's eyes out.

“Roman, why don’t you show Virgil your room? Mrs Ramirez made me prepare a guest room, but I assume you boys will share your room, no?” 

Roman had to suppress a little blush at the shameless indication, but smiled and softly nudged Virgil with his elbow, “Wanna see my childhood room, my love?”  
Virgil finally took his stare off of Dean and actually grinned a little at the idea of seeing such an intimate space of Roman.  
“Sure, why not?”

And not even Nancy’s strict gaze could stop Virgil from flipping Dean off while they walked away, sticking his tongue out as well for good measure.

\---

Roman led Virgil down a few corridors, then suddenly stopped shyly in front of a beautiful wooden door, leading Virgil in by his fingertips.

Virgil gaped. Couldn’t really do anything else while standing in the fanciest room he has ever stood in.  
“You really deserve your title, don’t you, Princey.” Virgil turned around, his eyes wandering through the room. He really felt like he was standing in the chambers of a proper Prince. It was way bigger than his and Josie’s room combined, and there even was a spiral staircase leading up to a second floor. Within Roman’s room.  
Every single piece of furniture looked as if it had cost a fortune, Roman’s bed alone was big enough for Virgil’s whole family to fit in it.

“Hey, Princey, I think I wanna move in here”  
Roman laughed, “Trust me, you won’t feel that way once we had dinner with my dear mother”  
He wrapped his arms around Virgil’s hips from behind and placed a kiss on his hair. “I am happy you like it here, though”  
“Yeah, I definitely like it here. But where’s all your stuff?” 

“What do you mean? All my things are right here” Roman pointed around the room, but Virgil only shook his head.  
“No, like, where are -your- things?” Virgil turned around to face Roman, wrapping his arms around the other as well.  
“Where are your childhood trophies and the posters of actors you obsessed about while you were young? Where are the bookshelves filled to the brim with the books you loved, and the drawers filled with old sketchbooks? Don’t get me wrong, this room is impressing, but it feels more like being in an Ikea than in the former room of a teen”

Roman just shrugged, “Mom said she wanted us to keep our rooms clean. I think I got some boxes in my closet with some of my old notebooks though, in case you only came here with the hopes to find embarrassing childhood memories”  
Virgil snickered, grinning while kissing Roman.  
“Yes, that’s a start. But remind me later that I have to teach you how to properly decorate a room”

Virgil looked around the room another time, trying to understand how teen Roman could have possibly felt comfortable in such a soulless bedroom. He could still remember his teen years and how much time he had spent staring mindlessly at all his posters, how much energy he had put into his little personal space to feel as comfortable as somehow possible in it.  
This room obviously offered none of that comfort. And absolutely no insight into Roman’s childhood at all.  
Virgil didn’t know what he had expected Roman’s room to look like, but definitely not like this.

But Roman just grinned at him and pulled him towards a door Virgil hadn’t noticed yet, opening it to reveal nothing but a gorgeous walk-in closet.  
Of course, Roman had a walk-in closet.  
And he didn’t even have the decency to act as if it was something special. 

Roman walked in and grabbed a few boxes from a shelf, placing them in front of Virgil in a dramatic manner, pressing a hand to his heart as he muttered, “And hereby I offer thee my childhood”  
Virgil just smirked at him.  
“Dork”

And when Virgil opened the first box, he knew he had found gold. It was full to the brim with worn-out sketchbooks and papers, drawings Roman must have made when he was approximately five years old.  
This was it.  
This was the soul of the room Virgil had been looking for, the last remains of Roman’s childhood. 

“I really don’t understand why some old, really bad drawings make you this happy, but alright”, Roman smirked, looking down at his beaming baby racoon. 

“Oh Roman, you silly, silly boy. You have just given me the best, most embarrassing blackmail material you could ever have” Virgil grinned over his whole face as he pulled out an old diary, skimming over the pages.  
Roman stared at him with a deadpan expression, “That’s why you wanted to see my room? Really?”  
“Yes”  
And because there is no better insight into a person than this kind of stuff, but Virgil didn’t feel the need to add that.

Virgil stood up and opened another box, Roman not stopping him, only watching with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Virgil really couldn’t suppress the smile on his face even if he wanted to.  
This was Roman. This were love letters written when he was in primary school and angsty teen poetry, failed sketches of people dear to him and little crafts he had made as a toddler.

This was a whole new side of Roman Virgil didn’t have the chance to get to know yet and with every second of just going through his things, he felt as if he understood more and more of who Roman really was.  
Seeing how Roman was when he was little, how he had seen the world, how he had tried to deal with his problems – Virgil felt as if he could have a peek into Roman’s soul.

He sneaked over to from where Roman had gotten the first few boxes and started to drag out even more.  
He wasn’t sure why, but a small black one caught his eye especially, pulling it out and opening it quickly.

“Roman?”, Virgil burst out laughing, holding up a piece of black fabric, “What is this?”

Of course, Virgil already knew what it was, but the blush creeping up on Roman’s face was simply too adorable.  
Lingerie. Roman had hidden a box of lingerie in his closet.

“Oh god, I forgot that was still in here”  
Virgil just looked at Roman, still laughing his ass off, just watching him blush even more with every passing second.  
“This, my dear Virgil, is one of the reasons why I hate my mother. Because this was her Christmas present to Remy, back when we were still dating”

For a second, Virgil just looked at him, not believing what he had just heard.  
Then he absolutely lost it.  
Virgil burst out laughing, a full, uncontrollable laugh flash washed over him, the boy literally falling to the floor and curling up due to his laughter. He couldn’t remember the last time anything this hilarious had ever happened.  
No, this was a once in a lifetime thing. 

By the time Virgil had calmed down enough to be able to properly breathe again, still shaking from his giggles, Roman was only glaring at him, his arms crossed and eyebrow raised.  
“Are you done laughing?”  
Virgil shook his head energetically.  
“Did she- did Remy ever wear this?” Virgil forced himself to breathe, barely able to speak through his giggling, “Enjoyed some sexy times with your moms present?”

If glares could kill people, Virgil would have been worried. But he simply enjoyed this too much. The comedy gold, Roman’s annoyed expression even though he was red like a tomato from blushing, the sheer ridiculousness of this situation. Oh god, Virgil loved every second of this.

“Haha, very funny. Of course, she didn’t. We both agreed it was creepy as fuck and decided to hide it in the depths of my closet, to be never seen again. Well, until a certain nosy racoon decided to go through my stuff”

Virgil lost all ability to breathe, his whole body shaking from laughter as he rolled over the floor, the boy barely able to force out some words.  
“If Remy’s present was lingerie, what am I going to get? Sex toys?”  
Virgil burst out laughing again, his eyes tearing up, his tummy starting to ache from all the laughter.

“You are going to get nothing because at this rate we won’t be dating anymore by Christmas”  
“Oh, shut up, you love me”

Roman looked down at the shaking racoon in front of him, lying on the floor, his eyes filled with tears of joy, his face slightly flushed from all the laughing and his annoyance vaporized itself. He just didn’t have to let Virgil know that.

“Touché” Roman softly stubbed his emo nightmare with his foot “I am going to get our bags out of the car, you could come along and help me”  
“No, no, I am good here” Virgil waved the panties in his hands like a white flag, Roman grunting and turning around to leave. 

However, with his back turned, he couldn’t see the devilish glimmer shining in Virgil’s eyes as he looked at the black fabric in his hands, a plan already forming in his mind, an oh too sweet smirk spreading over his face.

\---

“I have got good news and horrible news, and even more horrible news” Roman announced as he returned, dragging several bags alongside him.  
“Good news first” Virgil mumbled, sitting in Roman’s beanbag while innocently reading one of his old diaries.  
“You have handwriting like a little girl, did I ever tell you that?”

Roman was unfazed, deciding to ignore that last comment.  
“Good news is, Nancy just told me that mother won’t make it back before midnight, which means we don’t have to go through the torture of having thanksgiving dinner with her today. Bad news is, thanksgiving dinner is postponed until tomorrow and we have to stay if we don’t want Mother to disown me.”  
Roman sighed, a pained look in his eyes.  
“You know what? Since I don’t want her money anyway, we could actually just take off now. Nothing’s stopping us from just jumping into the car and driving to your parents’. Please let’s just drive to your parents’”  
Roman pleaded desperately, making his best puppy eyes at Virgil, even bringing out the quivering lip.

Virgil groaned, but stayed stubborn, “Roman, I still haven’t met your Mother, we can’t just disappear now. I know I am not exactly the person who cares about being polite, but I don’t want your mom to hate me, I only have this one shot” Virgil closed the diary and wandered over to Roman, kissing him quickly and softly. 

“And what’s the absolutely horrible news?”  
“One of us will have to call and tell Josie that we won’t make it by tomorrow morning”  
Virgil’s face paled within a second.  
“Oh shit”  
For a moment they just looked at each other, silence creeping through the room.  
Yes, Josie was a very sweet little girl. Yes, she was innocent and usually wouldn’t hurt a fly. But both of them were very well aware that an angered Josie was equal to their worst nightmares. They had learned that the hard way. And telling her that they won’t make it on time even though they had to swear on everything that was dear to them that they’d visit by Friday morning? That little girl would turn into their worst nightmare. 

“I mean…”, Virgil started, tugging at Roman’s shirt mindlessly, “…we don’t have to call her directly…We could always just tell my mom and leave it to her to let Josie know”  
“You cruel, cruel man. How is that poor woman supposed to survive that on her own? …I like your plan, let’s do it”, Roman smirked.

Virgil grinned in response and quickly fished his phone out of his pocket and dialled, the phone ringing several times before a familiar voice picked up.  
“Heya, Idiot”

Shit.  
Josie.

“Hey, sis. Is mom home? Why did you pick up her phone?”  
“She went shopping for tomorrow and she left her phone at home. We decided that we’d postpone the thanksgiving dinner until you guys came, it’s about spending time with the family after all”

Roman’s eyes widened in shock, both of them thinking the same thing: Oh, shit. Josie was gonna kill them.  
And his mom will gladly support her.

“So yeah, nice hearing from you, why did you call again?”

Virgil gulped.  
“So, you know, the thing is…”, he hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out how to break it to her “…Roman wants to tell you something!”  
Virgil quickly shoved his phone into Roman’s hand, who tried to do everything but take it.  
Cursing silently, he angrily mouthed at Virgil.  
-This is your sister!  
-Your mom! We had to delay because of your mom!  
Virgil mouthed back.

“Hey, Ro. Wassup?”  
Roman mouthed another quick -fuck you- at Virgil before pressing the phone against his ear and using all his acting ability to sound positive. And failing, nonetheless.  
“Hey, Jos! What Virgil meant to tell you…” Virgil glared at him, but no, two were able to play that game, “…wecan’tmakeituntiltomorrowIamsosorry!”  
Roman looked as if he had just kicked a puppy.

There was a long silence.  
Oh shit, Virgil really hoped Josie wasn’t going to start crying. God, she will start crying, won’t she? She will definitely kill them, no question. He should probably already arrange his funeral. 

“Oh, ok. I better tell mom.”  
“You aren’t angry?”  
“Well, not really angry, more disappointed” -Ouch- “but it’s alright, I guess. Tell my brother to grow a spine though, he could have told me that himself”  
“You would have brutally murdered me if I was the one who told you that!” Virgil screamed into the phone.  
“I mean yeah, but still. Don’t be a pussy”  
Roman laughed, “I promise we will come first thing Saturday morning though”  
“Yeah, you better! Bitch.”  
Roman grinned.  
“Bye, Jos”  
“Laters, Idiots”

And with that, Roman hung up, tossing Virgil his phone back, glaring at him.  
“What?” Virgil mumbled sheepishly, pulling Roman closer and kissing him, “She loves you. If I had told her, she would have never forgiven me”

Roman grumbled but placed another kiss on Virgil’s lips.

***

“And since Thanksgiving is postponed, we have all evening to ourselves”, Virgil purred against his lips, playing with Roman’s shirt, giving his Princey eyes that made his intentions more than clear.  
Roman hummed happily in response, pulling Virgil closer.  
“I guess so…”, Roman mumbled, kissing Virgil’s jaw, worshipping the skin underneath his lips.  
”Now…”, he said before placing another kiss on his neck, “What are we supposed to do…”, on his collarbone, “…with all that free time?”  
Virgil groaned silently, pressing himself against his lover, tangling his fingers into his hair and moaning his name.  
“I think I have an idea”

Roman smirked, his hands trailing down Virgil’s side.  
“And I think we are thinking of the same thing”, he muttered breathlessly as he started guiding his stormcloud towards his bed, pushing him down onto the satin sheets.

He crawled on top of him, kissing him until Virgil was a moaning, needy mess beneath him, his hands trailing all over his body except where Virgil wanted them, knowing exactly which bottoms to press to make Virgil lose his patience.

“Roman, please…stop teasing” Virgil groaned, trying to pull Roman closer, tugging at his strands, doing anything to keep him going.  
“Oh, my dear beautiful nightmare, you know that I don’t like you telling me what to do”, Roman purred, his hand wandering up under Virgil’s shirt and teasing at the flesh, Virgil writhing with need.  
“Especially when you look so pretty like this, squirming beneath me, so needy and all mine”  
There was a flame in Roman’s hues, Virgil nearly melting when he met his eyes, the look Roman was giving him the most gorgeous sight he had ever seen.  
His hands trailed down Virgil’s body again, one slipping underneath his pants, - … and stopping.

“That aren’t…boxers”  
First, there was confusion written all over Roman’s expression, then his eyes widened with the realisation, his breath hitching, Virgil was able to see how Roman’s entire being burst into flames.

“Yeah”  
Virgil had the audacity to sound smug, acting as if he wasn’t also blushing to the fullest, fighting to keep his embarrassment from showing on his face.  
He had nearly forgotten the present he’d made Roman.  
But only nearly.  
“That are panties”, Roman sounded as if he wouldn’t believe his own words, his luck.  
“Uh-huh”  
“Lingerie”  
“Yes”

Roman hesitated for a moment, trying to sort his furiously spinning thoughts, looking up and meeting Virgil’s gaze – seeing the smugness in his eyes, the devilish grin  
“Virgil, darling, you either get out of your clothes this fucking moment, or I will tear them right off of you”  
Roman’s voice was a deep grumble, the flames in his eyes scorching, and Virgil has never followed a request this quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \---
> 
> “Virgil, darling, you either get out of your clothes this fucking moment, or I will tear them right off of you”  
> Roman’s voice was a deep grumble, the flames in his eyes scorching, and Virgil has never followed a request this quickly. 
> 
> \---

The growl that escaped Roman’s throat at the sight that met his eye was nearly inhuman. 

Sometimes he simply couldn’t believe how goddamn attractive his boyfriend was, couldn’t believe that there was a way anyone ever could be this attractive.  
But here Virgil was, standing in front of him, blushing from head to toe and so fucking gorgeous that Roman nearly lost his mind at the sight.

He let his hands slide around Virgil’s hips, pressing their foreheads together and inhaling the smell of his boyfriend, the scent alone enough to leave his head spinning.  
“You are so unbelievably gorgeous, do you know that, my beautiful starry night?” Roman’s eyes nearly went black with lust as he grumbled those words, slowly moving to push Virgil down onto the bed, crawling over him, leaving kisses so intense all over his body that Virgil was squirming before he had even gotten his hands onto him.

“Roman…”, Virgil groaned as he started pulling at Roman’s clothes, whelping as his hands were suddenly pinned above his head in a swift manner.

“Don’t be greedy, my dark shadow” Roman purred against his skin, using his whole body to pin Virgil down, making sure to keep him exactly where he wanted him. The only thing he wasn’t restrained from was making those delicious moans that Roman loved so dearly.  
And when he started to lick and suck at his nipple Virgil wouldn’t have been able to do anything else anyway. 

Roman continued his journey upwards, his lips reaching Virgil’s collarbone and intensifying his ministrations, the boy beneath him nothing but a squirming mess.

“Am I allowed to leave a hickey, my beautiful starry night?”, Roman grumbled all of a sudden, making eye contact with Virgil, his lips not leaving his skin.

Up until now, Roman had always been careful not to leave any marks on his skin because he feared Virgil might associate them with a bad time within his life.  
But that day, different rules were at bay, different conditions, and Roman felt the need to be a little bit egoistic. A little bit territorial.

And when Virgil saw the way Roman looked at him, the scorching heat within his eyes, hearing the deep grumble in his voice –   
“Please“, he mouthed, his brain haywire and barely capable of proper thought. At that moment he only needed Roman to continue or he was going to go insane. 

And when Roman started to work against his skin Virgil’s brain stopped working completely, a continuous stream of nonsensical words leaving his mouth, and for a moment nothing but Roman’s teeth and lips and tongue seemed to exist.

That’s why he reacted too late when Roman moved to kiss the pulse point against his neck, licking and sucking, a sudden sting suddenly alarming Virgil enough to pull back with a gasp – he could literally feel the hickey blooming bright on his skin.

On the side of his neck, where he had close to no chance to hide it.

His eyes went wide, a stream of curses leaving his mouth.  
“Goddamn it, Roman!” Virgil pressed his hand against his neck as if it would stop the mark from popping up.

And Roman didn’t even have the decency to look sorry.   
Instead, he grinned smugly, the fire in his eyes burning bright as ever.

“But I especially asked”, He feigned innocence, making big puppy eyes at Virgil, purring happily.  
“You tricky bastard”, Virgil hissed, annoyance flaring in his eyes.

He had been stupid enough to assume Roman had meant the spot on his collarbone or had at least expected him to have the decency to leave it somewhere where he could hide it.

Not. On. His. Fucking. Neck.

In plain fucking sight.

“How THE FUCK am I supposed to hide that?!” Virgil snarled, “I can’t run around in here with a fucking scarf!”

Roman’s grinned widened.  
“Then don’t hide it. You are mine and everyone should know that”, Roman pressed a kiss to his cheek, “Mine. Only mine”

Oh god, Virgil was this close to simply exploding. And that would definitely leave some marks on Roman. Of the unpleasant kind.   
And god, the thought got sweeter with every second that Roman spent grinning at him.

But before Virgil could react, angrily or otherwise, he was cut off by someone knocking on the door.

Shit.

For a moment, they were both frozen in place, just looking at each other -

“SHIT-“, Roman ripped his eyes open with shock, his expression telling the whole story – he had forgotten to lock the door.

“Boys, do you still want some snacks?” Nancy mumbled as she came in, pushing the door open slowly.

“Uhm… where is Virgil?”, she looked around the room, a confused expression on her face.

Her eyes landed on Roman, who was crouching awkwardly on the bed, the space, where Virgil had been seconds before, now empty. 

Because while Virgil had instantly thrown himself behind the bed, Roman was still sitting there, absolutely frozen, just staring at Nancy with wide eyes, not knowing how to react, what to do.   
He just sat there.   
Blushing red as a tomato.   
Kneeling on his bed in the most awkward position imaginable.

Shitshitshitshitshit.  
Roman’s brain had stopped working completely. This was bad. Really bad.

“He…uhm…went to take a shower. Uh, yes” 

Both their eyes instantly went to the bathroom door, with no sounds at all coming from it. Not even the lights were on.  
Oh God. Roman knew that the lie was obvious. But his dumb-ass brain couldn’t think of anything better. 

Fucking shit.

He was still weirdly crouching on his bed, blushing furiously from embarrassment, as Nancy picked up on what had happened and started smiling softly. She put the plate in her hands down on Roman’s table, innocently smiling at him.  
“Alright, I’ll just put it here then”, she winked.   
She fucking winked.   
And turned to walk back out again, but not before adding, “I’ll leave you boys to your…showering”

Virgil let out a strangled whimper as soon as the door closed behind her, Roman instantly shuffling to where he could see his baby racoon lying on the floor.  
“Are you alright?”

“No!” Virgil groaned, covering his eyes and blush with his forearm, “How the fuck am I supposed to look that woman in the eyes ever again? Just pretend that she didn’t walk in on us fucking?” Virgil let out a few creative curses under his breath, “Also, I hurt my knee while jumping off your fucking bed”

Roman snickered, “Don’t worry about it, my beautiful nightmare, she already walked in on me doing worse things”  
Virgil only grunted.  
“Come here and I’ll gladly take care of your knee”, Roman mused, but Virgil stood up and walked into the opposite direction.

“Hey, what are you doing?”, Roman shouted, a pout spreading over his face.

“Just as you said!” Virgil hissed “I’ll take a fcking shower!”

“Hey! We aren’t finished here!” Roman looked at him puppy eyes, making grabby hands at him from where he was lying.  
“Yes, we are” Virgil shot back, his voice full of annoyance, but no bite. He stalked straight into the bathroom, instantly annoyed at how luxuriously big and over the top pompous it was. 

But he barely paid any attention to all that, only quickly stepped out of his panties and directly into the too big shower, turning it on and stepping under the ice-cold water without hesitation. 

Distinctively, he heard the door being opened again, being all too aware of the other person in the room but pretending he didn’t notice until he felt Roman’s warmth against his back.   
“Roman…”, he warned but didn’t pull back as a kiss was pressed against his shoulder.  
“Come on, Virge…” Roman pleaded, turning the water warmer and wrapping his arms around Virgil.  
Virgil grumbled as Roman kissed his shoulder again.

“You know that one word is enough, and I will stop”, Roman reminded him patiently, turning Virgil around in his arms until he could lock eyes with him.  
“Or…you could stop sulking and let me make you feel good.”

Virgil wanted to reply something witty and mean, but the moment Roman’s hands started to wander lower he instantly tossed that thought out of the window.  
“No more hickeys” he hissed out instead.  
Roman laughed.  
“Alright, alright, no more hickeys”, he purred, stepping closer and softly pressing Virgil against the wall behind him.

“There is so much more I’d rather do to you right now” Roman whispered into his ear, instantly earning a shudder from his dark night as reward.  
His hands started to wander lower, Roman grinning devilishly as he leaned down, kissing that one spot against Virgil’s neck passionately.

Virgil groaned impatiently, Roman’s hands and lips were everywhere except where he wanted them, his boyfriend clearly loving it too much to tease him.

“Roman, for the love of God, could you please finally decide whether you are going to fuck me or not?” Virgil hissed out, trying to grind against Roman, looking for any kind of friction, but Roman held him firmly in place, pinned against the wall with no chance of moving.  
“Oh Darling, I already decided a long time ago” Roman whispered into his ear seductively, earning another shudder from his dearest.  
And while those words passed out of his mouth, he moved his hands, quickly wrapping one around Virgil’s dick, a sharp stroke eliciting a small cry from his lover's lips, which was nearly instantly replaced by a continuous stream of moans and nonsensical words, begging Roman for more.

Virgil writhed with every movement, a bold twist of Roman’s hand sending him into delirium.

And Roman, that arrogant prick, was all too aware of the effect he had on his boyfriend, using all those dirty, dirty tricks he had perfected so painfully well.

Each stroke destroyed more and more of Virgil’s sanity, the boy clawing onto Roman’s back for dear life, unable to care about the red streaks he was leaving under his nails.   
“Oh god, Roman, Fu-Fuck, please, more-“, Virgil begged, the words falling from his words without his own consent, not able to think about what he was brabbling anymore.

Roman purred deeply, the desperation in Virgil’s eyes doing unspeakable things to him.  
And without hesitation he dropped to his knees, making eye contact for a second, looking for permission. He could see the lust burning in Virgil’s eyes, the way his chest was heaving uncontrollably and just the slightest nod.

Just the sight of Roman between his legs was enough to make Virgil’s breath hitch in his throat, and when he took him into his mouth Virgil nearly screamed. 

Roman bobbed his head expertly, the too-tight grip on his hair only pushing him more.

Virgil gasped at the sensation, Roman’s skilled tongue combined with the hot water flowing over his body nearly too much.   
He tangled his hands into Romans wet strands a tad too tightly, urging him for more, letting out a strangled whimper as Roman added his hands into the game.  
Virgil had to use every bit of self-restraint he could muster as not to buck up into Roman’s mouth, the heat of it feeling too unbearably tempting. He knew that every sound he was making only spurred Roman on more, and he was too far gone to be embarrassed about them anyway. 

And with every movement Roman made, every time he bobbed his head and every twirl of his tongue Virgil was gone further, reduced to nothing but a moaning mess.  
It didn’t take long for Virgil to start shaking, tugging a little harsher at Roman’s hair.   
“Roman, I am- “, He breathed out, his voice shaking, “I am s - so close”  
Roman instantly redoubled his efforts.  
Virgil’s whole body was shaking, his breath hitching in his throat with every gulp of air he forced down his lungs. 

Oh Fuck, oh fucking Fuck.

And suddenly Virgil was seeing stars.

It took him a moment to regain his sense of reality, finding himself eye to eye with a grinning Roman.

“Can’t wait for your turn, can you?”, Virgil mused sassily, but the glimmer in Roman’s eyes instantly let him now that he had assumed wrong.  
“Oh darling, I am no way done with you yet” 

\---

Virgil slacked against the wall behind him, his knees shaking, Roman the only thing keeping him upright.  
“Don’t grin like that, Idiot”, Virgil hissed, trying to regain at least some of his composure. Which was difficult, considering the fact that Roman just made him come hard enough to leave him shaking and literally unable to stand on his own.

“I don’t know what you mean” Roman purred innocently, while still grinning like a   
Cheshire Cat.

Not giving Virgil the chance to answer, Roman wrapped his arms around him, sweeping him off his feet and carrying him bridal style out of the bathroom. Virgil grumbled but didn’t resist as the other carried him over to his too-big bed and placed him on the covers.

He was shivering, the cold creeping into his body without mercy.  
Virgil quickly crawled under the warm blanket with his last strength, the room way too cold for his tastes. 

As soon as Roman lied down next to him, Virgil pressed his whole body against Roman, sighing deeply at the heat his boyfriend was radiating. Roman was a human heater and even though Virgil couldn’t understand how a person could have this much body heat, he wasn’t one to complain about that.  
Instead, he was purring like a small kitten, burying his head against Romans's shoulder, humming happily as Roman wrapped his arms around him.

For a while they just laid there, Roman playing with Virgil’s hair and drawing little patterns over his skin with his fingertips, a feeling of content so intense washing over him that Roman doubted he had ever felt this happy in this house. Everything was perfect.

Roman hummed happily, but after a while he felt how Virgil started to slowly tense up in his arms. He could nearly feel how Virgil’s thoughts started spinning, quickly pressing a soft kiss against his forehead to calm him down.  
“What’s wrong, my beautiful mysterious shadowling?”

Virgil hesitated for a moment.

“Roman, be honest, how did I not know you were this rich?”, he mumbled all of a sudden. His voice was silent, full of suppressed sadness and self-doubt, Virgil’s face still buried against Roman as if to hide his expression.  
“Sometimes I feel like I don’t know anything about you”, he hesitated again, “Am I really that bad at being a boyfriend?”

A bang of guilt ripped through Roman, knowing very well he himself was the cause of those insecurities.   
He took a deep breath, trying to form the words in his head, but it was not that easy was it?

“Because I didn’t want you to know. I hope you can forgive me for hiding this from you”  
Virgil let out a frustrated noise.  
“But I mean, you are living in a cheap, two-person dorm room, when you could have easily afforded your own mansion over there! But instead, you are literally living off of cheap cafeteria food. All this-”, Virgil widely gestured around the room, “It just doesn’t seem like you”  
Roman fell silent at his words and now it was Virgil’s turn to feel guilty. He hadn’t meant to get angry. He was just so frustrated, he just wanted to understand.  
Was he such a bad boyfriend, was he this egoistic, that he didn’t even know such crucial things about Roman?

Roman sighed deeply.  
“It’s because I haven’t touched a single penny of my mother’s money since I moved out.”

“What?”

“It’s a long story. Right now, I am living off of the money my dad left me before he died. It’s enough to get me through college, probably even enough for a while after that”

Virgil looked at him with big eyes, not knowing what he was supposed to say. But Roman kept going before Virgil could even stammer a single thing.  
“You know, I was sick of it. Being the rich kid.” Roman grumbled “In Highschool people only saw me for my money, not for who I was. I was sick of the fact that all my ‘friends’ only liked me because I was the richest kid in school, that every time I archived anything people always assumed it was because I bribed my way into it. I was sick of the fact that my mother thought she could replace love and affection with money and presents.   
That’s why I decided to leave it all behind me when I moved out for college. I didn’t want you, or any of the others to know about my money. I am sorry for hiding that from you.”  
Virgil was speechless.  
“Roman, I-“ he stammered “You don’t have to be sorry. Really. I shouldn’t have-“

“Besides”, Roman interrupted him. “Since you are the love of my life, and I wish to spend every single one of my days with you until death do us part, I guess we have enough time to figure out all of our deep, dark secrets”

“Roman, that –“ Virgil stammered, his face flushing, not able to form the right words.  
“I love you too”, he murmured instead.

Roman only purred happily and wrapped his arms around Virgil.  
“I love you, my dark and stormy night”

And even though it was barely evening Virgil managed to doze off in his arms within a few minutes.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *grumbles* I had planned to add more plot in this chapter, but after I hit 5k words I decided that that's too long and had to cut it. At least I already have typed out most of the next chapter so I'll ...probably...upload it sooner this time*laughs nervously*


	3. Chapter 3

Virgil woke up as the too-bright light from the hallway hit his eyes, voices spilling into the room.

"....even though Mrs Ramirez isn't here, I won't just let you skip dinner! What kind of housekeeper would I be if I let you go to bed with an empty stomach?" Nancy's offended voice bellowed through the air, but Roman quickly calmed her down with soothing words.  
Virgil needed a second to process what was happening, his brain fuzzy from sleep, his mind slow and mushy. He felt warm and tired, just wanting to go back to sleep.  
If it hadn't been for the old Lady standing in the hallway, Virgil would have whined like a sad puppy until Roman cradled him in his arms again.  
"Yes, yes, of course. We will come in a few minutes, we simply forgot the time", Roman promised apologetically.  
The blinding light, that had woken Virgil, was slowly locked out again as Roman started to close the door as he was talking, trying to force an end to the conversation, silencing Nancy completely.  
Virgil heard an insulted huff coming from outside the door, followed by the clicking of heels on the expensive floor.

Virgil hissed when Roman suddenly turned on the lights without warning, the sudden bright light burning his eyes.

"Good, you are already up", Roman smiled at him softly, "Sorry for not waking you sooner but you simply looked too adorable while you were sleeping, my precious little kitten. Hungry?"

Virgil sat up, rubbing his eyes.  
"No. Come back to Bed. Now", he sulked yawning and stretching a little.  
"As much as I'd love cuddling some more with you, but we are going to be late if we don't hurry now"  
Roman picked up Virgil's clothes from where they had been discarded mindlessly earlier and tossed them to his boyfriend.

"Get dressed, little kitten, or you are the one who explains to Nancy why we are late for dinner"

Virgil grumbled and pulled the covers back over him, pretending to be asleep again.  
Roman simply gave him The Look before disappearing into the bathroom. Virgil groaned and forced himself out of bed, quickly slipping into his clothes and following Roman. He hoped he didn't look too much like a mess, stealing a quick kiss from Roman before doing anything else.

A quick look in the mirror was enough for him to realise two things.  
A)He didn't look worse than usual, he only needed to comb his hair a little.  
B)The hickey Roman had given him was way bigger than he had expected and there was no fucking way in hell he could hide it. Ever. It looked fuckin horrible.

And he also came to a third conclusion, which was C) he would kill Roman for this.  
Virgil slowly turned to him, the look in his eyes making his intentions clear. Strangulation.  
"Roman. How. The. Ever. Loving. Fuck. Am. I. Supposed. To. Go. To. Dinner. Like. This?????", Virgil snarled at him, growling while his piece of shit-boyfriend barely reacted beyond the sassy smirk that danced across his lips.

"Don't worry Virge, your hair doesn't look -that- bad. Nothing I can't fix anyway", Roman's eyes glinted predatorily, biting his lip to hide his amusement.  
Virgil took a deep breath, having to restrain himself from punching Roman’s gorgeous face.  
“That’s not what I was fucking talking about, and you fucking know it. You fucking Bastard” 

Roman purred happily but kept making innocent puppy eyes at him, pretending not to see Virgil's pissed glare.

“Where is your makeup, you theatre geek?”, Virgil grumbled only a moment later, instantly starting to open random drawers, knowing very well that he won’t get an answer from his boyfriend. Roman’s eyes followed him as he opened one after another, each being ripped open with more force than the one before, Virgil's patience quickly running out.

A grin swept over Virgil’s face as he finally found the right drawer.  
It was filled to the brim with all kinds of fancy, obviously expensive stuff, things he could only guess what use they had. Countless brushes of the weirdest shapes, creams and powders Virgil could never identify.

But Virgil’s smirk was quickly replaced with an expression of horror.

He had no clue what all this stuff was.  
His knowledge about makeup was basically limited to eyeshadow and eyeliner for when he was feeling fancy, but that’s it.  
This was…a little more than eyeshadow.

His confusion must have shown on his face because Roman approached him with a grin.  
“Need some help there, my adorable little kitt-“

“No, thank you”, Virgil interrupted him, fletching his teeth and growling at Roman.  
His pride was already hurt beyond reason, there was no way in hell he would sit himself down and quietly let Roman put makeup on him, which that bastard would obviously do in such a sappy and soft manner that it would literally incinerate whatever pride Virgil had left.  
No, fucking thank you.

Without thinking, Virgil grabbed the first thing that somehow seemed to have his skin tone and started to smear it over the hickey, ignoring the pained noise Roman made behind him.  
It didn’t help. At all.  
If anything at all, it made it worse.

Shit.

“Darling, if it bothers you this much I can really help y-“  
“No”, Virgil hissed.  
“We are already late, so I really wouldn’t mind-“  
Virgil shot Roman a poisonous glare which made him instantly shut up, raising his hands in surrender.  
“You know what? Let’s just go.” Virgil grumbled, slamming the drawer shut, not waiting for Roman's reaction before storming out of the bathroom and into the hallway.

Roman sighed deeply and followed him a moment later, nearly having to run to catch up with his stormcloud. 

They walked alongside in silence, Virgil angrily brushing his fingers through his hair, trying to somehow tame it and failing miserably. Roman offered to help him again, but his angry racoon stayed stubborn.

Well, at least until the moment they heard the voices coming through the slightly ajar door to the dining room.

Virgil instantly froze at the too familiar sound of … His voice.  
A visible shudder went down his spine, enough for Roman to put a calming hand against his lower back and lean down to him.  
“You don’t have to do this, Virgil. Really. Let’s go back”, he whispered softly, trying to calm his stormy night with his hushed words.

“No. No, I have to do this. I can’t keep running”, Virgil tensed up at his own words, his face going dangerously pale.  
Roman stayed silent, giving him one last opportunity to back out.  
Both of them knew that this probably wasn’t a good choice.

“Besides, I really want to be able to enjoy that Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Let’s just view this as training so I don’t mess up in front of your mother”  
Virgil sighed, looking up to Roman, forcing enthusiasm into his eyes, but it was clearly overshadowed by his fear.

Oh god.  
Roman knew he should stop Virgil from doing this, but he was also very well aware that he wouldn’t be able to do it anyway.

So instead, he only nodded slightly and slowly went to open the door, stepping in front Virgil, shielding him from what was to come.

“Brother, you are late”, Remus grinned as they entered, “Again”  
Roman grumbled something incomprehensible but otherwise ignored his brother.

“It’s nice to see you two are…”, Dean’s voice was friendly, but he instantly stopped as his eyes fell on Virgil. As his eyes wandered down to his neck.

He froze for a second, his eyes going wide, before clearing his throat loudly and forcing his eyes off of him, “…have been busy”

Virgil was very well aware that Dean was referring to the hickey.

Holy shit, Virgil was going to kill Roman for this.

But one look was enough to see that that territorial Bastard enjoyed every second of this.  
Asserting his dominance by marking his property.  
That fucking pompous Peacock had planned for this to happen.

And as the both of them sat down, Virgil ‘accidentally’ stomped down on Roman’s foot hard enough that the other had to suppress a grunt, the noise that escaped him nonetheless letting the other two look up in surprise, two absolutely innocent, absolutely faked smiles looking back at them. 

Virgil sat down opposite to Remus, trying to avoid Dean’s gaze, feeling it on him like physical touch, like nails scraping over his skin.  
Don’t look Don’t look Don’t look.  
Virgil forced himself to keep his hands busy, trying not to fidget, clasping the glass in front of him and taking a deep gulp. While he was drinking he at least didn’t have to look at that bitch.

“Dee, don’t be so judgy!” Remus chirped suddenly, a smug smirk over his lips, “It’s not like we haven’t been ~busy~ as well”

Virgil nearly spat out his water. Slammed his hands over his mouth as to stop himself from spitting everything all over the table and into Remus’ face.  
He burst into a string of uncontrollable coughs, his throat burning from the fluid that tried to make its way down to his lungs, the feeling of nearly suffocating forcing tears into his eyes.

Too much information.  
Too much fucking information.

Virgil knew his face was flushed like a tomato, his eyes wide and teared up.  
“Please, don’t-“, Virgil waved his hands frantically, trying to get the image out of his head, “Don’t - Let’s not talk about that” 

“I absolutely agree”, Dee coughed, his face just as flushed, trying to hide behind his hands.  
He avoided eye contact with literally everyone on the table and hissed something incomprehensible at Remus

The noise made Virgil instinctively look at his ex.  
But instead of the dreadful feeling, he had expected to wash over him... most of his anxiety eased up.  
He didn’t know why, but seeing Dee just as uncomfortable as he was…some of the tension in him just eased.

Yes, he still hated Dee for everything that had happened. But seeing him sitting there, slightly flushed and embarrassed, some of the good memories came back. Because even after everything, they had had so many good moments. And just for a moment, the good memories came back from where he had buried them.

“Why so shy all of a sudden, Dean?”, Roman smirked, a cocky, devilish glimmer in his eyes, “Not like you ever were the guy to be afraid to share some details on your love life”  
Dee mostly ignored the comment, only hiding even more behind his hands. Remus, on the other hand, did not react as lightly. He was furious.

“Well, brother with all that drama going on in your love life, some of your stories would be more interesting anyway, right, Virgil?”, Remus hissed, his tone cynical and defensive. He leaned back provocatively while casually wrapping his arm around Dee’s shoulders, raising his eyebrow as an obvious challenge.  
“I heard there was some cheating going on, no?”

Virgil instantly felt his heartbeat go through the roof, his hands starting to shake involuntarily. Fuck.

“Well, it’s not my fault your boyfriend doesn’t know not to touch somebody else’s man”, Roman purred, looking at the man opposite to him with so much hate that Virgil could see the way Dee tensed up.

Fuck, this was probably the most fucked up dick-measuring contest imaginable.  
But both Roman and Remus were fucking territorial peacocks, with no sense of what was appropriate and what was definitely not appropriate. Because this shit was absolutely and thoroughly fucked up. 

“Can we please, please just talk about something else”, Virgil hissed at no one in particular, his eyes still locked onto his hands, refusing to look at anything or anyone else.

He hated everything about this.  
So much.

Virgil had been afraid that Dean might trigger him, but honestly, that snake was the least of his problems right now.  
Sometimes Roman alone was unbearable, but two of them? Roman squared?  
Nope.  
Absolutely fucking Nope.

“Roman, Virgil! Good, you came just on time, we nearly started without you!” Nancy chirped as she entered the room, Virgil instantly looking up at the friendly old Lady with big surprised eyes.

Thank fuck, a normal person.  
Maybe now those dumbass peacocks had to get their shit together and act like fucking decent human beings.  
Well, a man may dream.

Noticing how the conversation died down the second she had entered, Nancy raised her eyebrow questioningly.  
“What were you boys talking about?”

All four of them made eye contact for a split second, no words needed to communicate.

“About something else”, they said in unison, though Roman and Remus smirked cockily, whereas Virgil and Dean seemed rather, very, very uncomfortable.

And the way Nancy gave them The Look...Virgil was pretty sure she had just assumed what the topic had been.

Oh, fucking shit.  
He came here to make a good impression, instead, all he had managed was to make this old Lady think that they all basically were nothing but horny teens, who could think about nothing but banging each other.  
Shit.  
Well done, Virge, way to go.  
Right now, he only wanted someone to put him out of his misery. This shit was not worth it. Just shoot him, right here, right now.

But when Nancy placed a plate of the most delicious looking food Virgil had ever seen in front of him, he started to rethink that statement.  
Alright, maybe this shit was worth it.

\---

No, Roman did not feel the need to behave.  
Not when that fcking snake sat right opposite to him. He tried not to make a scene because he knew he’d only upset Virgil, but it felt like his entire body was buzzing.  
Even if he tried he wouldn’t be able to stop those insults and comments flowing out of his mouth, the suppressed anger making him dizzy.  
Fuck, all this time he was so worried about Virgil that he forgot one simple thing: He felt the unbearable urge to punch that fucker in front of him and there was nothing he could do about it. His fists itched and every movement that snake made just made him even more thirsty for blood.  
Knowing that that Bastard had not only hurt Virgil so badly, leaving metaphorical and literal scars that would never really heal was already bad enough…but now he even had his brother in his claws and he didn’t know what he would do to him. Had already done to him.

So, yes, Roman didn’t stop himself from making some remarks.  
Dean just ignored them anyway, keeping up a neutral face and staying silent beside some small talk with Remus, or Nancy whenever she passed through the room.  
Virgil stayed silent as well, at some remarks he gave Roman a blank stare and rarely commented on some of the things he or Remus said, but otherwise, it was just brotherly bickering between the twins.  
Well, if you could still call that bickering.

“Territorial Bastard”  
Words that Virgil had hissed silently at Roman after an especially nasty comment he had made.  
Well, maybe he was.  
Sue him.

“Roman”, Remus hissed suddenly, “Could I please talk to you in private?”  
He stood up without waiting for a response, glaring at his brother with suppressed anger.

Roman’s eyes instantly shot to Dee and Virgil, both of them refusing to look at anything but their plate.  
He doubted he could leave those two alone…

Dean exasperatedly rolled his eyes at the reaction, sighing. “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to your ~precious~ boyfriend, Roman. I know how to behave myself”

Another moment of hesitation, Roman’s eyes on Virgil.  
“It’s fine. Just go.” Virgil grumbled silently.

\---

Roman followed Remus into a hallway, close enough to be able to hear if anything between Virgil and Dee escalated, but far enough to be able to talk without being disturbed.

“Roman, I know your history with Dee is complicated, but please try to get over…that” Remus hissed, vaguely point towards Roman.

“I love him and things between us are serious”, Remus tried to make eye contact with Roman, but his brother’s eyes were focused on the gap in the door, his attention fully on the room behind it. 

“So either you learn to deal with him or we will probably have to go through that bullshit every time we see each other. And Roman, I don’t want us to sever ties just because of our boyfriends, so please, please don’t do this to me”  
Roman forced his eyes to slowly meet Remus’, a wave of guilt suddenly washing through him at his honestly devastated expression.

“I know, I know…” Roman sighed, leaning against the door behind him, running his hands through his hair, trying to get a clear head. His thoughts were still spinning, empathy for his brother mixing itself with the hatred he felt for Dean.

“I just… I can see what their relationship did to Virgil, it was toxic and bad for him on so many levels. I just don’t want the same thing to happen to you, Remus. I don’t want you to get hurt like that.”

“Roman…”, Remus sighed, “You absolute dipshit.”

Roman raised his eyebrows in a surprised manner, not having expected that reaction to his heartfelt statement.

“I knew you were a Himbo, Roman, but sometimes it’s just too much. Just no”, Remus whined dramatically.

“Get to the point, Idiot”, Roman hissed back.

“Of course, I know how badly their relationship was for -both- of them. I was Dee’s roommate for long enough to have noticed that.  
I am not stupid.  
However, Roman, I can’t believe I need to point that out, but it takes two to tango. Two people for a toxic relationship.  
And trust me, Virgil is not the only one that took damage from their relationship.  


Remus sighed but continued with slightly less bite in his voice.  
“A relationship can turn toxic because of many reasons, and in their case, I think it was mostly lacking communication. They were bad for each other, it didn’t work out and they tried to make it work anyway, with no consideration for the damage they were doing to themselves and the other.  
I and Dean…Roman, I love him.  
So much.  
And of course, we talked about everything. Neither of us want this to go like their relationship and we are both trying our best. And I appreciate that you want to look out for me, but don’t blame Dee. I am not blaming Virgil either, am I?”

Roman was speechless.  
He never saw it from that point of view.  
But still…  
There was this one last thing why he couldn't just leave them be.

Remus…there is still something I need to tell you”

Remus raised his eyebrows questioningly, urging Roman to go on.

“When Virgil and I nearly broke up, Dee somehow got a hold of that fact and-“  
“Yeah, I was the one who told him.”, Remus interrupted him.  
“Sorry, keep going”  
Roman shot him an angry glare but did as he was told.  
“Anyway, he came to my premiere and talked to me. About Virgil. And he confessed that he still…”, Roman wasn’t sure whether he should even tell Remus.  
Now that he thought about it, he had never seen his twin this happy as the times when he was with Dean, and no matter how much he disliked that snake, he didn’t want to break Remus’ heart like that.  
Yet again, if he didn’t tell him, at one point he would end up getting heartbroken anyway, would he?

“That he still had feelings for Virgil at that point? Yeah, he also told me that.”  
“You kno- HE TOLD YOU?!”  
“Yeah”, Remus rubbed the back of his head, sucking in a deep breath, “When he came back, he burst into our room and instantly confessed that he realised he still had feelings for him. I do confess I was pretty hurt, but honestly not surprised. And we did nearly break up. It was … difficult. But Dee did everything he could to prove that he loved me more and he was so unbearably romantic that I gave him another chance. Besides, that was months ago. He is over Virgil and I have not a single doubt about that”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Dumbass.” Remus remarked.  
“I was also a little bit afraid of what would happen once Dee faced Virgil again, true”, he confessed, “But I was worried for no reason. He barely even looked at him. He only looked at me, with so much love in his eyes that sometimes I still can’t believe it. He looks at me the way he used to look at Virgil, or even more so. With more love and emotion and it makes me melt every single time." Remus smiled lovingly, grinning at himself, “Dee said he didn’t feel anything for Virgil anymore and I will believe him. I trust him.”

Roman sighed deeply.

“So could you please behave yourself around him? After all, I have also been trying my fucking best to not scream at Virgil this entire fucking time. It was not easy. But I played nice, now it’s your turn to play nice”, Remus half hissed, half begged.

“Alright, Re, I’ll do my best. But if he gets too close to Virgil, I -will- break his nose.”  
“Trust me, I would beat you to that”

Roman smiled a little and wanted to reply, but a sudden loud noise of water and a whimper made him shoot around to the door he had been leaning against all this time.

Roman instantly slammed the door open, only to see a drenched Dee staring at him with wide eyes, while Virgil was innocently eating his dinner, acting as if nothing had happened.  
Dee’s eyes met Roman’s, instantly filling with a hint of panic.  
“I didn’t do anything-“, he pleaded, making a begging expression at Remus, searching for protection from his honestly terrifying brother.

“You didn’t do anything -today-”, Virgil hissed, without looking up from his plate, the glass in front of him suspiciously empty. 

Roman sighed, putting the pieces together.  
This really was going to be fun.


	4. Chapter 4

“Virgil what happened?”, Roman growled, shooting Dee a poisonous glare.

Virgil barely reacted, only grumbled something incoherent towards the floor, his entire posture hunched and curled up. He was basically radiating stress and overthinking, Roman could literally see Virgil’s spinning thoughts without even really having to look at him. 

Roman growled instantly, staring at Dean with raging hate, ready to punch that Bastard until he begged for mercy, already thirsting for blood. Anger shot through him, welling up inside him uncontrollably, a firestorm wreaking havoc within his mind. 

“I knew I shouldn’t have left you two alone”, Roman screamed, fletching his teeth. He slammed his hands onto the table with so much force that the tableware clinked threateningly, nearly falling over, “I should have never even let you enter the same fucking room as Virgil”

A sudden grip on his shoulder ripped Roman out of his thoughts. Remus stood behind him, looking at him with tired eyes, reminding his brother without words of the promise he had made barely a few moments ago.

But he pushed Remus away.  
Stalking to Virgil’s side, Roman made sure his beautiful stormy night was alright, not caring about anything or anyone else.

“We were literally only eating in silence when he just poured his fucking- “  
Dean shut up the instant he saw Roman’s glare, no words needed to make his silent threat clear.  
The look in Roman’s eyes was more than enough to make Dean realise that he better stay silent if he wanted to get out of this situation unharmed, no excuses or pleas able to stop Roman. Right now, Roman couldn’t care less what Dean had done or not done, his pure existence was. sin. enough.

“Roman, calm down, please”, Remus tried one last time, stepping up to Dee protectively. 

He met his brother’s eyes for a split second, the disappointment and hurt in them as clear as day. A bang of guilt instantly swept through Roman, forcing him to lower his eyes away from Remus, trying to hide his bad consciousness behind his anger. 

Yes, he loved his brother, he wanted anything but to lose him.  
But he couldn’t just stand by and watch Virgil suffer. 

Couldnt just ignore the snake sitting ever so peacefully opposite to them, acting as if everything was alright, acting as if nothing bad had ever happened between the three of them.

So he chose Virgil over Remus.  
Refused to back off, refused to just let this go.  
No matter what had happened, no matter what Dean had done, Roman promised himself he will make sure he'll regret it with every single fibre of his being, even if all he had done was blink wrong at his starry night.

It didn’t take Remus long to realise his hopes had been for nothing.  
A deep sigh escaped him as he accepted what he should have known from the start.  
Roman will never accept Dee.  
Just as he had never really accepted him.  
Roman had always chosen whatever flame he had at that moment over him, no matter how hard Remus tried, no matter what he did. Roman will never really put him first.  
Remus didn’t even try to hide all the pain in his eyes as he gave Roman one last glance, but his twin still refused to meet his gaze.

“Come on, Dee Darling, I’ll get you some dry clothes.” Remus offered Dee his hand, but it was instantly shoved away.  
“Don’t bother, I’ll go and take a shower,” Dee hissed, shoving his chair back with way too much force, the wood eliciting an angry noise, “Stay with your oh so charming brother, won’t you?”  
Dee didn’t even look at him, only stormed out of the room without another word, slamming the door behind him, his steps echoing through the sudden silence.

“Wow, thank you, Roman”, Remus growled, but the way he looked at him – the disappointment in his eyes, the betrayal – it hurt more than Roman would like to admit. Knowing that he had let his Brother down mere minutes after having promised the opposite.  
“Yeah, dinner tomorrow is sure going to be fun, well done, Brother”, Remus hissed, his voice dripping of pain, the boy turning around and going after his boyfriend, shaking his head in disappointment at his twin.

Virgil flinched as the door was thrown shut another time, the silence suddenly echoing painfully through the empty room. Roman sighed and opened his mouth to talk, but was interrupted by a voice coming from behind him.

“Are Remus and his pretty boyfriend already finished?”, Nancy walked up to the table, carrying something that looked like a small tray filled with a variety of small deserts, “They barely even touched their food!”  
She stopped next to Virgil and unconsciously placed her hand on his shoulder, only to have it brushed off instantly.  
“I am also finished”  
Virgil’s voice was harsh and pointed, he didn’t even look up to either of them, only shoved his food away, nearly running over Nancy as he fled the room.

Roman could only watch as his boyfriend stormed off, his shoulders slumping as he let out a frustrated sigh.

Fuck, he knew that all of this hadn’t been a good idea. He should have never even let Virgil enter this fucking house, everything was already so fucked up and it could only get worse from now on. He should have never let Virgil talk him into this, how could he have been so stupid?

“Didn’t you boys like the food?”, Nancy’s eyes fell on the barely touched plates in front of her, breaking the silence that had crept into the room for a painfully long moment, her tone making it obvious that she felt more than just a little hurt, “You should have told me that Virgil doesn’t like fish!”

Roman took another deep breath and forced a small, hurt smile onto his lips, the disappointment at himself glimmering in his eyes.  
“No, it’s not that, your food was delicious as always, Nan. It’s just…”, Roman’s shoulders slumped, “I guess I fucked up”

\---

Virgil didn’t know how long he had been lying there, unable to sleep, rolling from one side to the other.  
Roman had fallen asleep hours ago.

And he didn’t know when his thoughts had started escalating.  
But they sure as hell did.

It’s basically inevitable to happen whenever Virgil can’t sleep, rolling around in a cold bed with nothing but darkness and his own thoughts to keep him company. How could he not start to overthink every-fucking-thing in that kind of situation?

At first, he tried to keep himself distracted with his phone, scrolling through Tumblr endlessly to keep all those thoughts at bay.  
It worked for a short while.  
Not for too long though.

Anyone who wasn’t familiar with Anxiety would have thought that everything was obviously alright with him. Wouldn’t have noticed anything that indicated otherwise, even if they would purposely look for it.

People who had ever gotten in contact with Anxiety, on the other hand, would have seen it as clear as day.

The shaking leg, the way Virgil kept on gnawing on his nails relentlessly. The too tense posture and the clenched fist.  
Everyone who ever had to deal with any form of Anxiety would have seen it within a single glance.

Virgil, on the other hand, tried his best to ignore the signs.  
Pretended that everything was alright, that his thoughts weren’t spiralling into unwelcome depths, that each and every single thought that forced itself into his mind wasn’t so much worse than the one before it.  
Virgil simply ignored that his attention span had gotten too short to even read through a single post, that his breathing started to get uneven and shaking, ignored the unbearable urge to scream and cry.  
He was alright, everything was alright, there was nothing wrong, nothing at all.

_You are only a cheater. He deserves better than you. Stop lying to yourself, he doesn’t love you._

Just ignore those thoughts and they’ll go away soon enough.  
They won’t.

Just keep breathing, you will be alright.  
~~You won’t.~~

Virgil’s mind was spinning, he didn’t know anymore what was reality and what lies his brain threw at him, the thoughts in his mind forcing themselves into his brain until he didn’t know anymore what was true, what was paranoia or overthinking.

His breathing was uneven and uncontrollable, he felt like he was suffocating, he was shaking, his mind was exploding, it was too much, too much-

Fuck.

Virgil only realised he was biting the inside of his cheek as he started to taste blood. But he didn’t stop.

Fuck, he wasn’t alright.  
Virgil took a deep, shaking breath and sat up, leaning over to Roman, wanting to wake him – but then he stopped.  
He didn’t know why he stopped.  
He only stared at his hand hovering over Roman’s shoulder, his boyfriend sleeping ever so peacefully.

_You don’t deserve him. He can get someone better whenever he wants. He doesn’t need you._

He set his hand down again. 

Only felt the tears running down his face when they fell onto his skin.

Roman, I am not okay – please wake up – please help me – I can’t…  
~~I need you.~~

Virgil started sobbing silently, he needed Roman to wake up so badly, but no matter how hard he tried, something deep down within him stopped him, made it impossible for him to move, to think-

Virgil stood up. Crawled out of bed and stumbled out of the room.  
He just needed to calm down. He could walk it off. He didn’t need to wake Roman. He could do this on his own.  
~~He couldn’t.~~

_You are worthless. Just give up._

Virgil tried his everything to ignore those intrusive thoughts, but no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, his mind just kept spinning on and on, spiralling uncontrollably, his own thoughts feeling like punches and he had no way to dodge them.

He didn’t know where he was walking to, he didn’t care. He just needed to keep his mind busy, give himself something to distract himself – anything –

_You are only a burden. No one loves you. Worthless. ~~Worthless.~~ Worthless._

“FUCK!”  
Virgil screamed, punching the wall next to him, bolts of pain instantly shooting through him.  
His mind cleared for a split second, the pain drowning out everything else his brain was throwing at him for the shortest moment. 

And then everything came back worse. 

His whole body was shaking uncontrollably, his knees gave out underneath him, tears were rolling out of his eyes –  
Why was this happening? Why the fuck was he feeling this way? Why now?

Somewhere deep down, Virgil knew the answers to those questions.  
Too deep down to realise it in this state.

He sunk to his knees, curled up and tried to suppress the shudders that went through his body, trying to breathe –  
Everything was too much.  
He was suffocating.  
He couldn’t breathe.  
He was going to die.

  
“For the love of God, Virgil, some people are trying to sleep around here – “  
Dee strayed around the corner, yawning. His tone came out annoyed and sleepy, angry even.  
But he stopped the instant he saw Virgil cowering on the floor.  
“What is going on?”, Dee glared down at Virgil, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. Even he realised something was off. 

“Fuck off, fucking Bitch”, Virgil hissed, curling himself up even more, trying to hide his face. He couldn’t let Dee see him like that. Fuck, why did that Bastard wake up, out of all people? Why him? Why couldn’t he just have at least a moment to get himself together?  
Fuck.  
Fucking shit.

But Virgil knew Dee could see the way he was shaking, the way he tensed up at every movement the other boy made.  
That it wouldn’t take long for him to realise-

“Oh shit.”, Dee breathed out softly.

Yes. Yes, he knew.  
Fuck.  
Not him. Not Dee.  
Virgil couldn’t let him see him like this.  
Anyone. Please, anyone but him.

But Dee already let himself fall down to his knees, trying to get a good look at the hunched-over figure in front of him, his eyes slowly getting used to the half-dark. 

Virgil knew he was a mess, he couldn’t let anyone see him like this, especially not that son of a bitch, he refused to show weakness, not now, not after everything that had happened, he simply couldn’t.

“Stop staring at me pervert, just fucking leave already”, he hissed, he was shaking, his voice too, he ground his teeth, his whole body clenched, he couldn’t think anymore, he could barely speak-

“Virgil, no”  
Virgil could hear Dee shifting behind him, but still refused to look at him, refusing to let him see his face, refusing to admit he was not okay.

Fuck, why couldn’t he just go away? He was already a mess, he couldn’t take this right now, he can’t – there is no way he could ever deal with Dean now as well.  
“Just fuck off, go away, nobody wants you here”  
“You are having a panic attack. I won’t leave you alone like this” 

Panic attack.  
Yeah.  
That sounded logical.  
Right.  
He was having a panic attack.

“Why didn’t you wake Roman?”  
“I don’t know- I just- I can’t – “, Virgil sucked in a shaking breath, he couldn’t stop stuttering, why was he even talking to him, why did he even bother, why- “Why? Why now? “  
Virgil realised too late he said those words out loud, his shaking voice betraying him.  
“You and I both know that panic attacks are unpredictable and random. They don’t have a reason or a cause sometimes”

Dee sighed deeply, brushing his hand through his own hair.  
“I know that I am not the right person to help you right now, so please let me bring you to Roman”

Virgil saw the way Dean shifted in the corner of his eye, the way he got closer –

He lashed out.

Before he even realised what he had done, Virgil saw the red streaks over Dee’s cheek appear, a droplet of blood starting to spill out of one of them.

“Don’t you dare touch me, you fucking bitch”, Virgil hissed, instantly backing away, fear clear in his eyes.

Shit – he shouldn’t have done that.  
Fuck.  
No, please no, -  
Virgil pressed himself against the wall behind him, curling up, making himself smaller, preparing for Dee to lash out as well, preparing for the pain –  
It didn’t come. 

After a long moment Virgil hesitantly looked up, seeing Dee still sitting in front of him calmly, pressing a hand against his cheek, covering the streaks his fingernails had left, hissing slightly at the sting of the wound.  
“Let’s just get you back to Roman so I can finally sleep again”, he grumbled, offering Virgil his hand. 

Virgil instantly backed away, trying to get more distance from Dee, trying to get away, but he couldn’t, he was trapped, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t –

“Virgil, I won’t touch you without your own permission”, Dee stated, nearly annoyed by the fact of having to point that out, pulling his hand back at Virgil’s reaction, “but I think we both know that you need to get up because you can’t cower here all night”

“Just go away. Please.”, Virgil’s voice was small and shaking, he could barely breathe, tears were filling his eyes again, he was crying, he hadn’t felt this fucking vulnerable in so fucking long.  
Too much. It was too fucking much.

“Nope. Ain’t gonna happen. I won’t let you go through a panic attack alone and possibly let you hurt yourself. So please. Get up.”

Virgil just looked away, wrapping his arms around his knees, curling up, making himself smaller.  
“Very well. Have it your way”, Dee grumbled, his voice dripping sarcasm and annoyance,” I got all night. We can stay here as long as you want”

Dee shifted again, leaning back, and giving Virgil more space.

A moment of hesitation.  
Virgil didn’t dare to look up.

A sigh coming from Dee.

“Deep breaths, Virgil, remember?”, his voice was soft and hushed, the too-familiar tone in this too familiar situation.  
Déjà vu. This exact situation has happened so many times before. It seemed like the universe was trying to mock Virgil.  
He, cowering on the ground, shaking, while Dee sat across him, whispering quiet instructions on how to calm down.  
“Just focus on breathing, Virgil. Everything will be alright”  
In.  
And out.

\---

Roman woke up confused.  
A loud noise woke him. Or maybe something else.  
It was still dark, and he was tired, and he only wanted to go back to sleep. His bed was warm, and his body felt heavy from sleep, and he just wanted to ignore everything else. He grumbled and pressed his head into his pillow, trying to fall asleep again.  
It took him a moment to realise that the noise still hadn’t stopped. Got louder in fact. 

Roman rolled over, subconsciously trying to wrap his arm around Virgil.  
Only to find his side of the bed empty. And cold.

Roman instantly knew something was wrong.  
Knocking. That was that noise. Someone was angrily banging against the door.

Did Virgil lock himself out?  
No, he didn’t even have the key, how would he-

“Roman get your ass up”  
Roman was instantly wide awake.  
That voice.  
That fucking snake.  
What the fuck had he done.

Roman instantly jumped up, storming to the door and ripping it open with too much force, ready to fight Dean for whatever he had done to his Virgil.

He wasn’t sure what he had expected to happen when he opened the door, but he had definitely not expected that somebody launched himself at him.

The smaller boy nearly knocked them both to the ground, but Roman managed to absorb the force, instinctively wrapping his arms around Virgil.  
Virgil.  
The shivering mess in his arms was Virgil. He buried his head into Roman’s shoulder, his arms clenched around him too tightly. He was shivering and whimpering, pressing himself with all his strength into Roman.

“Next time take fucking care of your boyfriend, Roman”  
Dean’s voice ripped Roman out of his thoughts, his gaze instantly shooting up to meet his, nearly having forgotten the other man.  
“Because I would really prefer sleeping over having to deal with that”, Dee vaguely gestured towards Virgil, the shaking mess in Roman’s arms hissing something not too kind back.

Roman quickly stroked Virgil’s hair, trying to calm him down, too confused to react properly.  
“What happened- Why- What’s going on?”  
Dean sighed deeply, rolling his eyes.

“Slow as ever”, he mumbled, more to himself than anything else, continuing by pointing at Virgil, “I found him like this. Panic Attack. Deal with it yourself. I am going back to sleep”  
He made each statement slow and pointed as if he were talking to a toddler, not even trying to hide his annoyance.

He sighed at Roman’s overwhelmed expression and rolled his eyes. He waved him off and turned around, walking away, but then suddenly stopped a moment later.  
“And Roman…judging by the bruises on his knuckles he probably punched the wall. Make sure he didn’t hurt himself”  
Roman was lost for words for a second, still too sleepy to really comprehend what had just happened, Dee already disappearing behind a corner before he could say anything.

But he didn’t care about him now anyway, his whole attention was already back on Virgil, his beautiful nightmare still refusing to let go of him.

“Hey, what’s wrong beautiful?”, Roman kissed Virgil’s hair, drawing soft circles across his back, humming soft little things into his ear, “Don’t worry, everything is fine, I got you. I am here for you”  
Roman quickly closed the door behind himself, not letting go of Virgil in the process, keeping him close and safe in his embrace.  
“Wanna talk about it, my starry night?”  
Virgil vaguely shook his head, making an unhappy noise.  
“Would you like to try to sleep again, then?”  
Another noise, something that Roman could barely interpret as a weak ‘Uh-huh’.  
“Alright then, love, whatever you want”, Roman murmured sweetly, slowly leading Virgil back to their bed.

And as they both lied back down again Roman made sure to keep Virgil curled up safe in his arms, making sure to stay awake until Virgil dosed off again.  
“Tomorrow we will talk about it, ok?”  
“Hmhm”  
“Virgil, I love you”, Roman kissed his forehead, “No matter what. And I always will. And I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you, I promise”


	5. Chapter 5

Roman had tried his best to prepare Virgil.  
He taught him everything he would need to know for meeting his mother. The over-the-top table manners, the proper way to talk. Roman made Virgil memorise all taboo topics no one should ever mention within earshot of his mother – his dead father, for example, or the fact that Roman was in theatre, or that Virgil didn’t necessarily come from a very wealthy family, or…the list went on.  
Roman had tried his absolute best, and Virgil knew that.

Yet, Virgil felt anything but prepared. 

He felt nervous like every boyfriend was before being introduced to his partners family.  
He felt happy because he was finally going to meet Roman’s family, meet Mrs Ramirez.  
And he felt absolutely horrified because of the sheer endless number of things that could go wrong within the next few hours.

But all he could do now was pray and hope he wouldn’t fuck this up.

\---

Roman was a steady presence next to him like always as they walked towards those wooden doors, holding his hand and trying to keep him calm in any way he could.

However, Roman’s more than unusual silence had the absolute opposite effect on Virgil.

Roman was funny and warm and light-hearted. He was loud, messy, annoying and over the top. He was all those things and Virgil loved him for them.  
But seeing him being this silent and tense? It was like war-drums announcing the inevitable bloodshed.

Virgil forced himself to stay calm though.  
There was no need to escalate.  
This was only going to be a normal family dinner with Roman’s Mom, they would eat and chat and finally get to know each other.  
Just a normal Thanksgiving dinner.  
Nothing really could go wrong.  
It will be fine.

At least that was what he was trying to tell himself.

Virgil intertwined his fingers with Roman’s, squeezing just a little.  
_We can do this._

Roman looked down at him slowly, a weak smile blossoming on his lips.  
_Together._

They stopped in front of too big doors, neither of them moving a single muscle.

A moment of hesitation, a shared glance at each other.  
A deep breath, a small nod.  
A step forward and mighty oak doors groaning as they were pushed open.

Virgil was hit by a wave of sensations.  
The room was filled with chatter and the smell of a dozen different dishes, candlelight plunged everything in golden light and the ablaze fireplace radiated warmth. Remus and Dee were already seated, peacefully talking to whom could only be Roman’s mother.  
Mrs Heather Ramirez.  
All three of them laughed at a joke Dee had just made, even Mrs Ramirez smiling a little bit.  
For a moment Virgil really believed that this could end well. The aura, the atmosphere, everything seemed like a perfect family dinner, full of smiles and good food and happy memories.

The moment his mother looked at them both Virgil instantly realised that he had been wrong. So, so wrong.  
“Roman!” Mrs Ramirez hummed as soon as they entered. Of course, she appeared to be happy, but there was still a hint of something else in her voice too, something so cold it made Roman tense up, nearly wince at her tone.  
“We have been waiting for you. You are late”, she added without missing a beat, “I thought I had raised you better than that.”

Her voice stayed in that same nearly happy tone the whole time, but Virgil could feel the way her words hit Roman, the way he flinched barely noticeably.  
He was clearly used to that faked positivity, had to deal with it too many times.

“I am sorry mother”, Roman mumbled as they moved to sit down, not sounding sorry at all.  
He grabbed Virgil’s hand and softly pulled him into the room, tension radiating off of him. One look at Roman's face was enough for the whole atmosphere to change. What had seemed warm and cheerful at first suddenly seemed like a cold deathtrap.

“Who is that?”, Mrs Ramirez gaze instantly shot to Virgil as Roman grabbed his hand, her voice was cold and sharp, all fake politeness instantly dropped.  
“Roman, where is Rebecca?” 

_What._

Virgil needed a second to process the words he had just heard.

Stopped dead in his tracks, not believing his own ears.

Rebecca.  
Remy.  
She was expecting Remy.

Here. 

Today.

Why ...why the fuck would she be expecting Remy.

For a moment Virgil wasn’t sure what was going on. His brain was running dry.

Roman and Remy broke up years ago. That’s what Roman had said. That’s what Remy had said. They were over. Years ago. So why…why was she expecting Remy?

Virgil looked up to Roman. For just a single second he wasn’t sure what to think. Roman said he had told his mother about him.  
That they were dating.  
That he and Remy had broken up years ago.

Had he lied? Was he ashamed…of dating him?

For just a second Virgil doubted Roman and it was enough to feel all faith in himself drop.

No. No, Roman loved him.  
He wouldn't do this. Not him. 

Virgil instantly felt a bang of guilt sweep through him, setting his cheeks ablaze in shame.  
He couldn’t believe he distrusted Roman like that, even if only for a moment. If anyone, he can trust Roman. 

Virgil tried to meet Roman’s eyes, but they were glued onto the woman in front of him, a look of utter defeat in them as he let out a soundless huff of disappointment.

“Mother, I know that you would prefer otherwise but I am no longer with Remy and you know that”, he said, his expression a forced poker-face. The feeling of having been let down, of disappointment and betrayal dripped through Roman’s voice.  
“And as I told you, I brought my boyfriend along” 

He took a deep breath before continuing, forcing himself to stay calm.  
“This is Virgil, I told you about him several times.”

“Yes, yes, I remember something about a ‘Virgil’”, his mother rolled his eyes at him without trying to hide it, her voice cold as ice.  
She didn’t fucking care.

She really was as bad as Roman described her, wasn’t she?

She looked over the two of them one more time, her eyes full of disapproval, before gesturing to the empty chairs.  
“Won’t you boys sit down finally or are you just going to stand there all evening?”

Virgil hesitated, but Roman grumbled something incoherent and did as he was told, pulling Virgil along with him. 

Virgil wouldn’t have sat down if it hadn’t been for Roman.

He would have just stood there, staring at the woman in front of him speechlessly.  
Yes, Virgil definitely understood everything Roman had told him about her now. Bloodsucking monster, for fucks sake, she was worse than Roman described her.

But he let Roman pull him to the seat next to him, accidentally meeting Dean’s eyes as he did so.

They had been silent the whole time.  
Virgil only noticed it now, but Dee and Remus had been absolutely quiet ever since he and Roman had entered the room, the both of them suddenly very focused on the food in front of them, sharing secretive glances every now and then.

Virgil hadn’t forgotten what had happened the day before, and neither had those two.  
Another front to fight on.

A quick glance to Mrs Ramirez, the woman already talking to Roman, chastising him for whatever had just come to her mind.

Virgil could have dealt with just her. He could have dealt with just Dee and Remus.  
But a war with two fronts?  
Well, let’s just say history had proven that that was no good idea. At all.

Virgil grabbed the hem of his hoodie, taking a deep breath, trying not to panic.  
All this wasn't a good idea. He barely sat down and already regretted everything, how was he supposed to sit here for an hour or more and deal with this shit? And he knew until now everyone had tried to behave, tried to keep the mask on. Hell would break loose once Ramirez gave up on her restraint and started saying the things she obviously wanted to say.  
He was fucked.

Virgil was ripped out of his thoughts when Roman grabbed his hand again under the table, his thumb softly running over the back of his hand, calming him.  
Right, he wasn't alone. Roman was here with him and he obviously hated every single second here just as much as he did. Roman was here and that's all that mattered.

He could still do this. He could still save this. The only reason he had come here was to get Roman's mother to like him, he couldn't just give up now. It wasn't too late yet. 

Introduce yourself. Properly.  
That's what Roman had said he should do first. That was what he was going to do first. Just introductions yourself.

Yet, Virgil regretted the second he decided to draw his attention back to Mrs Ramirez instantly.

“But Rebecca was such a sweet girl, and smart too,” she complained to Roman in that I-just-want-to-understand kinda way, the way every parent ever used when actually, they did not want to understand anything. When they only wanted to bully their children into changing their mind.  
“I had honestly hoped you had come back to your senses by now, I could never really believe that you broke up with her”

Roman's other hand visibly clenched around his cutlery, his posture suddenly just a bit too straight, his jaw tensing up clearly.  
“I didn’t break up with her,” he said through gritted teeth, trying to keep his composure, “She broke up with me. Because she is a Lesbian. Mother, I hope you see the problem of why I can’t date a Lesbian.”

“Oh, you kids and your labels and phases. Does Rebecca really still call herself that?”, Mrs Ramirez rolled her eyes again and Virgil felt the slight need to stab her with his butter knife, repeatedly. Judging by the look on his face, the same thought had also crossed Roman's mind.

“Yes, of course, it’s not-“, Roman took a deep breath, knowing that arguing was pointless. It always was.  
"But it doesn't matter, because I am with Virgil now. I love him and I would never-"

“Did you know that she is studying law? Her grades are well above average as well, she will be a good wife one day”

“Yes, she will,” Roman hissed through gritted teeth, sounding like he was this close to jumping across the dinner table, ready to commit a murder, "Once she finds herself a good girl to marry"

“I think you should give her another chance, you know?”

“Mother!” 

“Yes, yes”, she grumbled, “You are dating Virgil, she is a lesbian, I heard it the first time already.”, she waved him off, as if all her words weren’t contradicted by all her actions so far.

She made a huge show as to look over to where Virgil was sitting, pinning him down with her eyes alone and smiling in a way that made Virgil freeze.

“Tell me, Virgil, how did you two meet?”

Somehow all of Virgil’s confidence seemed to leak out of him within an instant, leaving him to sit speechless and scared to death with the sudden attention on him.

“I…We are roommates back in Greenh..”  
“You are sharing an apartment? What are your parents working as, so that you can’t even afford your own?”, she interrupted him.  
Quickfire questions. Of course she used quickfire questions.  
“My-My mother has been promoted to Manager of the local grocery store last-“  
“Promoted? So what was she working as before? Assistant? Oh god, you can’t tell me she started out as saleslady?”  
Virgil hesitated for a split second, not knowing how to best answer, but Mrs Ramirez just kept pushing, not giving him a chance to think, to breathe-  
“Nevermind, what does your father work as? Is he a lawyer, a doctor, hm?”  
“Well, actually he is unemployed at the moment, but I-“  
“Unemployed? Well, I am not surprised, to be honest. Your kind of people always likes to cash in unemployment money, living off of the work of other people. I would be ashamed to-”

“In fact, my father is unemployed too.”  
Dean barely looked up as he said those words, calmly poking around his food with his fork as he looked up and met Heathers eyes.  
“He was a lawyer but got into some shady things that turned up and got him fired” 

Ramirez hesitated for a long moment, surprised by the sudden unexpected interruption. Then her expression changed.  
“Oh, Darling, that must be horrible for you!" Heather leaned towards Dean, putting her hand on his shoulder, "You know, nowadays people get fired over nothing, don’t worry, I can always pull some strings-“

Virgil stopped listening. 

_What._

Everyone in the room was aware of the shift in Ramirez behaviour. Even Remus looked up and exchanged confused and disturbed looks with Roman.

Virgil just gave up. He wasn't stupid. He knew, that for whatever reason, Heather Ramirez hated him and wanted him gone.

But the thing that shocked him most wasn’t even the way Ramirez treated Dean differently than him, at least not entirely. He had had a feeling from the beginning that this woman disliked him in particular for whatever reasons, to be honest.

But Dean’s dad wasn’t unemployed. He wasn’t even a lawyer.  
He was a fckin Psychologist, that’s why Dee was this good at his mind games in the first place.  
So why would he-

Oh.  
_Oh._

Virgil looked up to Heather encouragingly petting Dee’s arm, letting him write down his dad’s number on a small piece of paper she had produced out of her pocket.  
All attention was off of Virgil.  
Ramirez was focused solely on Dee as he whined about how hard the last few months had been for him and his family, as Remus looked on with an amused and proud grin all over his face. He had gotten it, too. Roman, on the other hand, looked more like he was about to kill his mother, not even aware of the trick that Bastard had pulled off so magnificently.

Virgil couldn't stop a smirk from creeping over his lips.

That sly Bitch probably even thought he did something good.  
Fuck, how much Virgil wanted to punch Dean in his fucking fake sad face right now.  
He was going to kill that bitch one day.

It went on like that for quite a while- Dee had Ramirez’ full attention and basked in it, while Virgil finally had a chance to breathe. He still hadn’t touched any of his food so far and didn’t plan on doing so anyway – he hated himself for the wrong message Nancy was going to get because of this, but there was no way he could eat anything right now. He would rather cut his own tongue out.  
Roman didn’t look any better either. His eyes were blank and his shoulders absolutely slumped. The longer they listened the more defeated, the more devastated Roman looked.

“Why do you treat Dean so differently than Virgil?”  
An innocent little question, barely louder than a whisper, yet it silenced the whole room. The words everyone had been subconsciously thinking about yet no one had dared to ask it until now.  
“Why is it that you hate my boyfriend so much more than Remus’? You have known them both for no more than thirty minutes, yet you seem ready to accept Dean into the family any second now, while you do everything you can to scare Virgil off. Why.” Roman was desperate and confused and hurt and he showed all his cards openly. It hadn’t even been a question, it had been a plea.

“I don’t treat them differently, why would you even accuse me of that?”, his mother didn’t even really look up from her food as she said so, saying the words as if she hadn’t even heard the question.

“Well, actually, you do treat us very differently”, Dee pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

Ramirez looked up at his words, puzzled that Dean, out of all people, would speak up against her. And apparently, it shocked her enough to actually feel the need to give a proper answer for once

“Well, maybe.” She admitted with a shrug, still thinking while slowly chewing, trying to find the right words.  
“To be honest, since Remus said he was very serious about you, Dean, I try my best to welcome you to the family. I hate having to point it out, but Roman, since I highly doubt that I will ever see this Virgil again I feel no need to get to know him any better”

Roman nearly spit his drink out.  
“What.", he coughed. His eyes were huge, but not only because of the lack of oxygen. “Why would you ever think that I wasn’t serious about Virge?”

“Oh, please”, she waved him off, “You bring home the first boy you manage to charm and want to make me believe that he is the love of your life? Very funny. If you want to have some fun, then fine, but don’t expect me to believe that your late little teenage rebellion is going to last longer than a few months. Next year you'll bring home a girl like you always do” 

The silence that followed was physically painful.  
The statement hung in the room.  
Rang in Virgil’s ears until he couldn’t hear anything else anymore.

“Is that really what you think?” Roman’s voice was barely a hush as he finally spoke up, “That this, that me being not straight, is just some kind of teenage rebellion?”  
Roman sounded like he was about to start crying. Like the last little bit of hope had just shattered into a million pieces.

“Do we really have to do this right now?”, his mother, on the other hand, sounded like she was confronted with a minor inconvenience she was too tired to deal with.

“Yes, yes we have to do this,” Roman breathed out, “Because one day, I will marry Virgil, and you can't do shit to change that”  
Roman was screaming. He hadn't even noticed it until it was too late, but he wasn't going to stop now.  
"And you know what, actually you were right. You are never going to see Virgil again. Because I would rather never see you again than let you treat him like this ever again."

For a moment, there was a crushing silence in the room. No one dared to move or even really breathe. They all watched Ramirez. Visibly starting to get angrier with every single breath she took, a bomb about to explode

“Roman, how dare you speak to me like that!?” Ramirez slammed her cutlery down with so much force that the tableware clinked, her composure gone in an instant, she was nearly shaking with anger as she screamed back at Roman, “And you will not, under any circumstances, marry this random boy! Fuck him all you want, but there is only so much you can do because you want my attention!"

What. 

Virgil didn’t know how to breathe anymore. The world seemed to tilt underneath him.

This was not how this was supposed to go.  
Not at all.

That’s what this woman thought of him? That he was a cheap fuck toy?

Virgil’s lungs started to burn from the loss of air, but everything seemed to have turned into an empty void. He couldn’t breathe. Or maybe he was hyperventilating. He didn’t know. 

He heard Roman say something, but he couldn't hear the words anymore.

This is wrong. This is so, so wrong.  
He couldn’t breathe.  
It was too much.

Just a random boy.  
Fuck him all you want.

Why? Why would she think that of him? What had he done to deserve that?

Virgil felt like there was something clenched around his chest. A weight too heavy too fight against. No matter what he tried, his lungs wouldn’t fill with air. He tried and he tried but this suffocating feeling wasn’t going away. 

“I am sorry, I- I have to go, I can’t do this” Virgil stood up without waiting for any response, his eyes empty as he nearly ran out of the room.  
“Virgil –“ Roman shouted after him, but Virgil didn’t listen. He was gone before Roman could even jump up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah I am not dead


	6. Chapter 6

Roman slowly stepped into his own room, his gaze swiftly going over everything in the half-dark.  
He didn’t see him at first, but he knew he’d be in here.

The bed was empty, so was his beanbag, everything was untouched and if he didn’t know better, he’d go looking somewhere else. He checked behind the bed just to be sure – nothing, of course.

Roman nearly missed it, but when his eyes went over his bathroom door, he took just the slightest step back.  
It was barely visible, but still there – the shadow right under the door.  
A relieved sigh escaped Roman.  
There he was.

Roman slowly stepped up to the door, making sure his steps were loud enough for him to be heard, sitting down and leaning with his back against the cold wood, knowing very well that Virgil sat right behind him in a mirrored pose.

Roman didn’t try to open the door. He knew without even having to check that it was locked. Knew Virgil well enough to understand he needed space if he hid in the bathroom like that and respected it.  
No need to be pushy and stress his Stormcloud even more.

That's why he didn’t say anything, there was no need to after all.  
Virgil knew that he was there and that was enough. 

Roman wouldn’t force him to talk if he didn’t want to, yet at the same time silently offered his ears if he did.  
Sometimes that was enough. Just being there, existing next to each other.

So that’s what they did.  
Sitting there, listening to each others breathing, offering silent comfort.

“Hey”, Virgil mumbled softly after a while, his voice dimmed through the door.  
“Hey”, Roman whispered back, tapping the door behind himself with his fingertips, “Are you alright?”

“I am sorry”, was all he got as an answer.

“It’s alright”, Roman mumbled calmly, “There is nothing you have to apologise for.”  
“I should have listened to you”, Virgil let out a frustrated sigh and bumped his head against the door between them, the sound echoing through the silent rooms, “You had warned me from the beginning and you were right”

Roman couldn’t help but giggle, “Later you are absolutely going to deny you said that.”  
“Probably”

“Actually, I am a little grateful this happened,” Roman huffed, trying to process everything that had gone down within the last hour, “I always had a little hope, you know? That she could accept me. I guess it was time to understand that that’s not going to happen. At least not in the near future”  
“So you are not mad?”  
Roman smiled, still endeared by Virgil’s insecurities. “Never”

“I am never going to forgive her for that by the way. For treating you like that”, Roman added silently. Just silently enough for Virgil not to hear.  
There was no use in letting him think he was the reason Roman gave up a part of his family. Because Roman knew he would blame himself and didn’t want to burden Vigil like that. 

“This was destined to go wrong from the beginning, wasn’t it?”  
Roman could hear how frustrated Virgil still was, but also that he started to relax. That a little bit of the self-blame and the edge in his voice was gone.  
“Yeah, I think so. I can’t think of anything we could have done to save this evening.”

"Hm hmm...I just...I just wished that I had had a chance. Just a little bit, just enough to show her that I am not who she thinks I am. That we aren't what she thinks we are"

"Virgil, she would have never given us that chance. All in all, we can call ourselves lucky she didn't call the police after she saw me hand in hand with a boy", Roman grinned, trying to lift the mood with his jokes, getting only a sarcastic huff as response.

Virgil stayed silent for a while, just long enough to get Roman the tiniest bit worried, but then suddenly sighed. Roman heard shuffling behind the door as Virgil moved, then the ‘click’ of it being unlocked.  
Roman smiled as his backrest slowly started to move away, but instead of standing up like a normal person, Roman just let himself glide down to the floor as Virgil slowly opened the door, grinning a little as he fully laid down on the cold bathroom floor and met Virgil’s eyes.

“Your future mother-in-law is a bitch”, Roman whispered, smiling up to his unbearably pretty boyfriend as Virgil sat down next to him, the cutest little sad smile on his lips.  
Virgil faked exasperation at his words and dramatically pressed his hand to his chest, “How dare you speak about my future mother-in-law like that, my love?” Virgil mockingly copied Roman’s over the top gestures as he spoke, waving his hands in the air like a drama queen.

“Dunno”, Roman moved so that his head was lying in Virgil’s lap, reaching up and cradling Virgil’s face in his hand, “I guess I just lose all my self-control whenever I am around you”

“Dork”, Virgil stated blankly, but started to run his hands through Roman’s hair, a weak smile on his lips, “I guess now we can at least shorten the guest list of our wedding by one person”

“I know, Remus has been sooo rude today,” Roman fake-sighed sarcastically, “I just can’t deal with that kind of energy”  
Virgil raised his eyebrow mockingly, holding his hand ready to flick him, the threat clear.  
“I am just kidding!” Roman laughed, playfully pushing his hand away.

For a moment Roman just smiled, looking into Virgil’s eyes and ignoring the world around them.

“Are you really alright?”

Virgil shrugged as answer.  
“I don’t wanna repeat today ever again, but I just needed some time to breathe. I can deal with it”  
Roman booped Virgil’s nose. “Alright. Tell me if that changes”  
“Dork”

Roman stuck his tongue out at him, glaring playfully.  
“Wanna get out of here?”, Roman wiggled his eyebrows, “I think a certain brat already waits for us at the next stop of our little fucked up road trip”

“What...You mean as in right now?”, Virgil raised his eyebrows but seemed to consider it, “You really want to drive all night?”  
Roman simply grinned as answer. 

“Alright, if I get to nap while you drive. And I get to choose the music”  
Roman purred, sticking his tongue out again.  
“Of course, my Chemically Imbalanced Romance”

\---

For a second Virgil thought he would die.  
It certainly felt like he was dying.  
Definitely as painful.

Alright, maybe he was exaggerating.  
A little.  
But being woken up by a knee to the guts from a twelve-year-old girl really wasn’t all that of a pleasant experience.

So, the half-scream half-groan that escaped Virgil was kinda inevitable.  
“What the…!, Josie?!” Virgil complained as he rolled over in his bed, Roman next to him letting out a similar groan. And a second one as a certain little sister shifted and hit another painful spot.

“Mom told me to wake you up and that you two should come down for lunch”, she mumbled as she lied down on the bed between them, or well, on top of them due to a lack of space, “Which really is an unacceptable way to find out you guys finally came home after an eternity!”

“We came here at 3 am,” Roman mumbled, still half asleep, covering his eyes with his forearm in a futile attempt to blend out the morning sun, “We weren’t gonna wake you up in the middle of the night”

Even though Virgil had appreciated sneaking out of Roman's mansion without anyone noticing, sneaking into his own house that night had been a lot more difficult since every single floorboard decided to creak under their feet for no reason at all but spite. Neither of them could believe they had managed to get into Virgil's room without waking anyone up.

“Well, you should have!”, Josie protested loudly, shooting up and punching both of them onto their shoulders.  
“Just let us sleep, Jos” Virgil mumbled, his eyes still closed, “Five more minutes”  
“But lunch is nearly finished!”  
“Shhhhh,” Virgil mumbled, wrapping an arm around her without opening his eyes and pulling her down, “Go back to sleep, Josie. It's still in the middle of the night.”  
“It’s noon! I have been awake for hours! And I am really hungry!”  
“Just five more minutes,” Roman mumbled as he threw his arm over the two of them, successfully pinning Josie down.  
“I was supposed to wake you guys up! This is the absolute opposite!”  
“Embrace the cuddle pile”, Virgil mumbled, Roman starting to softly snore again.

Josie managed to stay still for full five seconds, losing her patience instantly when Virgil started to snore as well.  
She grumbled, forcibly climbing out from under their arms. “Well, I’m starving and I’ll eat. You two can have the cold leftovers whenever you decide to wake up, I guess”  
“hm hmm” 

Virgil snuggled closer to Roman, trying to properly fall asleep again, ignoring the light shining through the gaps in the curtains.  
It was perfect. Warm, snuggly, safe.  
Roman smelled familiar and he was finally at home again, in his own bed in his own room and nothing could be better.  
No matter how much shit life threw at him, moments like this kept him going, made him hate this fuckhole of a planet a little less.  
He could stay like this forever.

Except he couldn’t. 

\---

Virgil was awake within an instant.

A scream.  
He had heard a scream.

Josie.

He was up and sprinting down the stairs within a split second, his instincts kicking in before his brain could react.  
Roman right behind him, his steps thundering down the stairs nearly in sync with his own.  
He had heard it too, fuck.  
That meant Virgil hadn’t imagined it, hadn't dreamt it.

Within those few seconds it took him to bolt into the kitchen every possible worst-case scenario played through his head.  
It had been the ‘mom is having a seizure and dying in front of my eyes’ kind of scream. The ‘I accidentally poured boiling hot water all over my skin’ or the ‘Somebody broke in and is threatening me with a gun’ kind of scream.  
He was mortified.  
In those few moments Virgil felt as if he might lose everything.  
This was beyond anxiety. This was true horror.

Virgil slammed the kitchen door open, ready to fight anything and anyone who caused his little sister to be scared like that, ready to jump into a knife for her.

It took him a long moment of staring into the probably most peaceful room he had ever seen to realize everything was alright.  
Virgil just froze, trying to process what was going on, what he was seeing.

His mom was standing at the counter, her back turned towards them as she was stirring one of the many pots on the stove, music was playing on low volume on the radio, there was no threat, no danger, nothing. Josie was calmly setting the table, singing along to the lyrics.  
“Good morning,” his mom hummed happily, “Sit down, boys, I just need to finish the seasoning"

Virgil just stood there.  
Confused and tired as the adrenaline started to wear off, trying to understand what the f was going on.

“Told you I could get them down here in an instant”, Josie stated blankly, her words directed at their mother who just chuckled as response.

“You what”  
“You wouldn’t get up”, Jos explained to Virgil, suddenly full of sass, provocatively grinning at him.  
“I thought you were dying.”, Virgil pointed out, starting to get really annoyed, “Next time, don’t fu…”  
Virgil shut himself up before he started cursing in front of his sister, trying to calm himself by rubbing his temples. It was too fucking early for this. Way too fucking early.

“She’s such a good actress, right?”, their mom pointed out proudly, swinging her cooking spoon with a tad too much force, accidentally dripping a little bit of sauce onto the counter.

Josie grinned, excitedly slamming her hands down onto the table, radiating happiness.  
“Hell, yeah I am!!! Roman, next time you gotta teach me how to fake cry! Because you guys totally bought that scream and there is no denying it!”

“Wait, wait, wait”, Virgil silenced everyone, processing the last statement, “Roman, you taught her that? Why would you-“ 

Virgil stopped as he noticed the puppy eyes Roman made at him, combined with quivering lip and messy bed hair that made him simply too cute.  
Oh, Roman knew he was in trouble.  
“But she really wanted to learn and there was no way I could say no to her! Look at your sister Virgil! You want me to say no to her? That’s like saying no to Pat! And we all know not even you can do that!”

“YEAH, But She Is Too Powerful Already! You can’t just teach her something like that!”, Virgil furiously pointed towards Josie and that dammed smirk of her as she was obviously trying not to laugh her ass off at them.  
In the short silence that followed, Virgil could even hear his mom quietly giggling because of them.  
Whereas Virgil just stood there, too tired and too done with this sht.

“At least we are awake now, right?” Roman wrapped an arm around Virgil’s waist and pressed a kiss onto his cheek, nudging him onto the bench of the dinner table and forcing him to sit down, “Just on time for food”

“Betrayal”, Virgil hissed at him, but with no bite in his voice, “You are supposed to be my side”  
“I am on the side of food”, Roman nuzzled his face into Virgil's neck, closing his eyes and nearly falling asleep again right then, right there. But only nearly.

Virgil was about to open his mouth to reply something not all too G-rated, all annoyance already long forgotten, as he remembered that they were sitting in their kitchen.  
With both his mom and Josie watching them.  
During their whole little quarrel, or flirting, or whatever the fuck that just was.  
Grinning at them like idiots.  
Fuck, Roman really made him drop his guard.  
That dumbass.  
He couldn’t believe he would spend the rest of his life with him. 

“Virgil you are so fucking gay”, Josie stared at them, trying her best not to laugh, placing a pot right in front of them, “Like, so gay.”

Virgil just glared at her, trying to commit murder with just his eyes. Roman, on the other hand, started laughing, a soft sound that filled the entire room, that made Virgil nearly forget about everything else. Nearly.

“Eat up, kids!”, Mom placed another pan in front of them, an all too familiar, delicious smell surrounding it.  
“I made your favourite”, she leaned down and whispered into Virgil’s ear, but still loud enough for everyone to hear it.

Virgil wanted to be annoyed. He really really wanted to. But all he did was smile all over his goddam face.  
He couldn’t help it.  
He was finally home, Roman was still cuddled against him like the sleepy mess he was, his mom radiated a positive energy that forced everyone in the room to be happy and even Josie made him happy in her own, painfully annoying way.  
He really couldn’t help it.

\---

A sharp ringing ripped him out of his personal Elysium, a ringtone that they all had learnt to hate. Because it caused his mothers' unending smile to falter for just the briefest of moments, for it to return just slightly more strained than it ever should be.

“Sorry, I really need to take this”, she wiped her hands on her pink apron, the exhaustion in her eyes clear as day even though she tried to hide it in front of them.  
“Start eating without me, alright?”

\---

There was a clear tension in the room when she returned, a shadow of the prior happiness. Of course, she had left the room for the phone call, but the walls were thin and it had gotten loud enough for them to understand scraps of it at certain points.  
“Don’t worry about it, kids,” She sighed softly, a weak and tired smile on her lips, “The divorce is just taking a little more energy than I hoped it would, but everything will be alright”

“If you need a better lawyer I can organize you one”, Roman blurted out suddenly, nearly choking on his own food. Both of them had barely eaten the last few days and now shoved unholy amounts of pasta down their faces. Roman coughed, trying to get his airways free while also talking at the same time, “I can get you one of the best this country has to offer if you need one, - I’d just have to make some very uncomfortable calls and make some apologies I don’t mean- but I really could-“ 

Roman shut himself up, realizing his was brabbling pointlessly, and probably being rude. There was a fine line between being generous and seemingly looking down on people because of his own wealth and even though Roman never meant it that way, he had accidentally insulted too many people when he was only trying to help.  
But instead of being offended Mrs Storm only grinned at him and patted his back.

“Thank you, Roman, but my lawyer is just fine. It might take a while, but this is something I need to get done on my own. Something I should have done quite a while ago in fact.”

Roman just nodded awkwardly, not seeing the way Virgil’s face lit up with amazement right next to him. 

Virgil knew what he had just proposed. It had been just drabbling, yet Roman was apparently ready to apologise to his own mother after everything that had happened, dumping his pride and ideology down the gutter, if it meant making his mom’s divorce just a little bit easier.  
Virgil knew Roman was selfless, but in that moment he realised just how much he had underestimated him.  
And how much he loved him. How unbearably much he loved him.

\---

Of course, Josie was the first one to finish her meal, instantly jumping up and nearly dashing out of the room, only to be halted by Roman speaking up.

“Hey, Jos, how about you help me do the dishes and in return, I teach you how to fake cry as you asked”, Roman grinned as he stood up, starting to pile up the empty plates and dirty cutlery from the table, not needing to look at Josie to know that she was staring at him with an open mouth, nearly vibrating with excitement.  
“Deal!”

Virgil barely managed to finish his glass of water before Josie ripped it out of his hands, their mom watching with a proud smile.

“Virgil, come here real quick”, she grabbed the tip of his sleeve, leading him into the living room, just far enough to be able to talk without being overheard, but still able to watch both Roman and Josie as they happily shrubbed dirty plates together.

“They are a really good team, aren’t they?”, she looked so endeared by the two of them that she seemed close to melting just from the sight, yet he knew he probably looked exactly the same. There was something so deeply heartwarming about seeing Roman with his little sister, joking with her and working together as if he wouldn't want to do anything else.

“Yeah”  
Sometimes Virgil really couldn’t believe his luck. It was as if he was walking around a dream where everything was just too perfect and he wouldn’t want to give it up over anything.  
“You really love him a lot, do you?”

The question ripped Virgil out of his daydream, too surprised to be able to answer properly.  
But the way her eyes softened…he knew she could see the answer on his face, written there clear as day.  
She didn’t even wait for an answer before continuing.  
“Virgil, I want you to have this” Without waiting for a reaction she fidgeted with her hands, Virgil too confused to realise what she was doing until she dropped something small and light into his hands.

A ring.  
Her wedding ring.

“What-“  
“I don’t need it anymore, do I?”, she smiled weakly at him, “But you, baby, I think you are going to need one in the future, won’t you?”  
Virgil didn’t even need to follow her eyes to know she was looking at Roman.  
“He’s the right one for you”, she cupped his cheek with soft hands, running her fingertips over his skin, “I have never seen anyone so much in love as you two and I couldn’t be more proud of you”

He didn’t know what to say. Or what to do. He just stood there.

“I want you to have it”, she closed his fingers around the ring, encasing his hands with hers, “It was your grandmothers’, she gave it to me and now I give it to you. It might not be exactly Roman’s Style, but it’s worth a little bit. So, whenever you think the time is right you can sell it and buy a new one for him, yeah?”

“Mom…I- Are you sure? Don’t you-“, Virgil sighed deeply, anxiety flooding his voice and eyes as he stared down at their joined hands, “What if- I mean I love Roman, I love him so much it hurts- but what if he isn’t the right one? What if-“

She smiled and pulled him into her arms, hugging him tightly.

“Baby, I’ll be honest with you. When I married your father, I made the wrong choice. I was careless and got pregnant and then let society and finance problems force me into staying with someone I didn’t truly love. But that between you and Roman, that’s true love if I have ever seen it. And still, if something happens to happen and you two don’t work out- it’d be also alright, ok? You’d still find your Happy End.”, she smiled, just looking at her son for a moment before continuing, “I know that you like to overthink sometimes and worry too much, but I think you don’t need to with Roman. Look at him, he is like a little puppy!”

Virgil giggled, trying not to tear up. “Yeah, he is”

And for a moment they just stood there, glancing into the kitchen where Roman and Josie were still doing the dishes, smiling and laughing together, splashing dirty water into each other's faces.

“Hey, mom…”, Virgil’s eyes dropped back to the ring in his hand, “Any last life-advice?”

“Hmm… All I can tell you is, don’t get pregnant from the wrong man”, she joked with a sarcastic glimmer in her eyes.  
“No wait, *do* get pregnant from the wrong man, because you will end up with two absolutely wonderful children, that you couldn’t be more proud of”, she corrected herself, pinching Virgil playfully in his shoulder.  
"But only stay with someone you really love"

Virgil smiled, actual tears of happiness escaping him.

“Thanks, Mom”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I decided how this story is going to end and am mostly finished with plotting ...and all I can say is...have some fluff *shoves this chapter into your hands*... take this fluff, my babies, you deserve it.
> 
> Also, bc of college and stuff Lhy is currently on hiatus because I have exactly no time for anything but sleeping :) But like, I can't tell y'all how much much-needed serotonin I get from comments so don't be shy :)


End file.
